


Young Lions

by Sparetimer



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Drama, Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest Spoilers, Happy Ending, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mystery, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-01-25 09:32:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12528312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparetimer/pseuds/Sparetimer
Summary: One minute, Leo was staring down the length of a possessed Takumi’s arrow. The next, he awoke in his room, suddenly the king of Nohr. And dotingly waiting by his bedside was the very man who slaughtered his family.(Or simply, "Bad End Conquest Leo travels to Post-Birthright universe with an A+++ Takumi support rank")





	1. Through the Looking Glass

**Author's Note:**

> The beginning of this story is kinda brutal, but is probably the worst it's gonna be for a while.
> 
> Sorry. I promise there's not actually _that_ much suffering.

Corrin wasn’t getting up.

Leo shot a desperate look at the crumpled form on the ground, her eye-catching hair pooling in shining strands at the foot of the Hoshidan throne. His beloved sister was naïve until the end, and paid for it with an arrow through her chest. Strangely, it had never occurred to him that Corrin would fall. She had returned to Nohr like a beacon of hope, her pure determination and optimism a guiding light. Seeing her lie there, lifeless, felt impossibly wrong, as if such a thing should not even be possible in the reality of their world. 

Azura’s song filled the throne room, sounding more like a melody at a funeral with every extra second they remained locked in hopeless battle with the possessed Hoshidan prince. Leo rushed to raise a forest of trees before him as the archer notched another arrow in his direction, but thing that was launched at him could not be deemed a mere arrow in any sense of the word. It blasted straight through the thicket of magically strengthened wood without losing any acceleration, sending splinters and branches flying. Leo hastily drew his sword in an attempt to deflect at least a fraction of the shot. He regretted his decision the instant the arrow met his blade. He could feel his joints crack as the force dislocated his shoulder. The sword was thrown out of his hands, and he was thrown off of his horse. 

“Leo!” Camilla called as she hovered above him in concern.

“Stay back!” Leo warned, painstakingly dragging himself onto his knees. His left arm was completely useless now, hanging limply at his side. Luckily, he still had a grip on Brynhildr.

A sudden shout echoed across the room, and a terrifying silence followed.

Azura had stopped singing.

The songstress clutched at the wisps of black smoke, as the arrow that pierced her abdomen faded away. She stumbled back, lance clattering to the floor.

“Big sister!” Elise cried, galloping towards her with her staff at the ready.

“Elise! Watch out!” Xander called after her, and leapt to her defense just as Takumi raised another barrage of arrows against them.

He positioned himself between the attack and the two princesses, and struck down the first arrow with a powerful blow from Siegfried. Leo could tell that even Xander was rattled by its force, and was slightly slow to guard against the second shot, released by the strange clone standing by the prince’s side. He barely managed to deflect it, and was given no time to recover as the original prince notched and launched yet another arrow. This one embedded itself in his shoulder, and Xander grunted through the pain, determined not to yield any ground. His opponent would not yield, either, and continued to fire off shot after shot in rapid succession, of which the crown prince could manage to block only half. Leo could only watch, with growing horror as he realized that his brother, the strongest man he knew, could not keep up with Takumi. He was skewered with arrow after arrow, the powerful projectiles burrowing straight through his armor, pieces of chipped steel falling to the ground behind him. 

When Takumi was done, Xander remained upon his horse, his armor in tatters, and his body eerily still. Behind him, Elise suffered not a single scratch. Then, slowly, he toppled to the side and crumpled by his steed, a pool of blood forming beneath him at an alarming rate.

“No!” Leo couldn’t tell if it was Elise, Camilla, or himself who yelled out, but in the next moment, Elise had leapt off her horse to rush to her fallen brother’s side, Camilla was charging towards Takumi with furious war cry, and Leo had urged forth another row of trees as the tireless prince prepared to launch another volley at the now defenseless youngest princess.

But all of it was futile.

Elise waved her staff desperately, tears streaming down her face, but there was no change in Xander. Healing magic had no effect on the dead. Camilla found herself blockaded by a wall of invisible enemies, and her angry roar did not cease even as she hacked wildly at them. Just like last time, the arrows penetrated Leo’s trees with ease, no matter how hard he worked to reinforce them. 

Three of them pierced Elise’s heart with perfect precision. 

Camilla’s anguished cry rang through the halls, as she surged forth and carved through the last of the invisible army. She had gotten close, too, her axe swinging straight at Takumi’s neck, but even from point blank distance, the archer merely raised his bow, almost nonchalantly, and fired.

It only took a single arrow to strike a malig knight out of the air.

Now, it was just the two of them. 

Leo choked back his anguish as he raised his tome. There was no time to grieve, as he mentally flipped through his inventory of spells for any that would win him this battle. Prince Takumi had so easily dispatched his entire family, and even now there wasn’t a single scratch on him. What chance did he have? He noticed the corner of his spellbook trembling, and discovered that it was his entire hand that was shaking. 

He was scared, he realized. He was alone, heartbroken, and completely terrified of Takumi. The Hoshidan was a monstrous archer, the likes of which he’d never seen before, and he raised his bow a final time, a glowing arrow aimed straight at him, and glowing red eyes staring straight through him.

Leo clutched Brynhildr and prepared one last spell. If he was going to meet his end here, then at the very least, he had to take the possessed prince down with him. The entire throne room bustled with unspoken tension, both of their laboured breathings muffled beneath the crackling of their respective weapons.

An arrow was fired, a spell was cast. 

And everything went black.

-

Leo blinked blearily, willing his eyes open with no small amount of effort. He felt impossibly tired, and his head was threatening to split open. He grimaced as he forced himself to sit up. Looking around, he quickly recognized his own room, save for a few eccentricities, like the unfamiliar, blatantly Hoshidan books on his desk that he didn’t recall owning, the black crown on his nightstand that he was certain he did not own, and most jarringly, the figure slumped over in the chair at his bedside. Somebody who was definitely, one hundred percent, not supposed to be there.

He moment he saw Prince Takumi’s dozing face, all the memories came rushing back.

Leo scrambled backwards, hand clawing for Brynhildr. He breathed a sigh of relief as his hand found its familiar cover lying faithfully beneath his pillow. However, the commotion, albeit small, still caused the sleeping prince to stir. Leo froze as the enemy archer rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and settled his sights upon him. His grip on his tome tightened, a ball of magic already forming in his hand. 

What made him hesitate was the look in Takumi’s eyes. He remembered the empty red gaze that pierced him in the Hoshidan throne room, and this was not it. They were amber, and shining with emotion. 

Prince Takumi was smiling at him.

“Leo! You’re awake!” He called out and launched himself from the chair onto Leo’s bed. Leo was somewhat surprised by the unexpectedly informal address, but not enough to drop his guard.

“Stay back!” He hollered, the magic in his hand flaring up dangerously, “What are you doing here!?”

Takumi jolted away as if electrocuted, and stared back at Leo looking almost concerned, for some reason, “Hey, it’s just me. Are you alright?”

“What is an enemy prince doing in my room?”

“Enemy prince? You mean _me_?”

“Who else would it be? Answer me, Hoshidan!”

Takumi’s brows furrowed, and he raised a placating palm, talking lowly and soothingly in a way Leo would have never expected from the ireful prince, “Leo, you need to listen to me. You were beaten pretty badly when we found you, and you’ve suffered an extensive head injury. Please try to remember. The war ended six months ago.”

“Six months!?” Leo nearly dropped Brynhildr in shock, “I’ve been out for six months?”

“What? No!” Takumi waved him off, “You’ve been out for three days. Don’t you remember anything?”

“I remember fighting you,” Leo growled, his magic crackling, “and I remember how you killed every one of my siblings. Enough with this farce. What are you planning, Prince Takumi?”

Takumi only stared back at him, dumbstruck, “You must have been hit harder than I thought. I do remember fighting against Xander and Camilla, but Corrin never gave the order to kill.”

“And why would you take orders from Corrin, who was fighting for Nohr?”

“Again, what are you talking about? Corrin sided with Hoshido.”

Leo launched a spell this time, missing Takumi’s head by a mere inch and scorching the wall behind him. The archer jumped from the shock and shot him a disbelieving look.

“Now I _know_ you’re lying,” the Nohrian royal struggled to pull himself out of bed, advancing with another spell at the ready, “Corrin chose Nohr! Stop trying to hide the truth!”

“Leo, you’re scaring me,” Takumi uttered, in almost a whisper, as Leo backed him against the wall. And this, somehow, was enough to make the him falter. The Hoshidan prince indeed looked horrified. As if only noticing it now, Leo realized that his bow, neither the divine nor cursed one, was anywhere in sight. If Takumi was planning something, why did he come here unarmed, and why did he spout such obvious lies? He also showed no signs of possession, or even a hint of antagonism. Either he was an extremely good actor, or something wasn’t right.

“I heard shouting. Is everything alright?”

Leo’s head snapped in the direction of the familiar voice. His heartbeat seized as a head of lilac hair peeked in through the door. Camilla sashayed into the room, her arms stretching out the moment she caught him standing.

“My dear brother,” she cooed, drawing him into her chest, “you’re finally awake.”

Leo’s eyes widened in disbelief. It was impossible. He had seen his sister get shot down before his very eyes, and yet, she was so warm. Her heart was beating in her chest, right beneath his ear. Everything about Camilla was real, and alive.

“I rushed over as soon as I heard about the attack. I was so worried. I’d have never given you the throne if I knew how dangerous it’d be,” she continued, somehow unbothered by the fact that her sibling had frozen completely still in shock, “but don’t you worry now. Your big sister is going to eviscerate the assassin who dared to target you.”

With that, she finally released him, but Leo could only gape at her and utter, incredulously, “You’re alive?”

Camilla returned his question with a look of confusion, “But of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I think the attacker messed with his memories,” Takumi supplied, “His recollection of past events is all messed up.”

“How dare they damage our brilliant Leo’s head,” Camilla growled, “I will never forgive them.”

“You and me both,” the Hoshidan prince glowered in such a way that Leo could almost believe he was angry on his behalf, “They made him think I killed everyone! How messed up is that?”

Despite how convinced the other two occupants of the room seemed to be, Leo could not believe that his memories were false. His recollection of everything, from the moment the war began, to his final stand-off with the possessed prince, was crystal clear. And yet, all evidence pointed to the contrary. Camilla was alive, and Prince Takumi was obviously not possessed. In fact, he was practically friendly.

“Assuming you’re correct,” Leo spoke, trying to keep his voice calm despite the whirlwind of thoughts in his head, “then what about Xander and Elise? Are they alive too?”

At that, both of them froze. Camilla bit her lip and looked the other way, hand reaching up to cover the way tears beaded at the corner of her eyes. Takumi’s gaze fell to the floor, and his mouth opened and closed, without any words coming out.

Those reactions were all he needed.

Leo collapsed back on his bed, leaning the back of his neck against the headboard. A tired sigh shuddered through him.

“You said something about giving me the throne. Am I correct in assuming I am now king of Nohr?”

Camilla nodded. 

Leo ran through the facts in his mind: Corrin chose Hoshido, the war ended six months ago, half of his siblings survived, he was king of Nohr, an assassination attempt knocked him out for three days and may have damaged his mind, and somehow, for some reason, Prince Takumi was at his side. Was his friend? Either his memories were altered, or this entire bizarre reality was false. He didn’t know which one it was, but he was going to get to the bottom of it.


	2. Service with a Smile

“Exactly how long do you plan on staying here?”

Leo glanced at the archer, somewhat irritated. He hadn’t budged from his chair by the bed, even after Camilla, the physician, and the maids had come and gone. The man had helped himself to one of his books without so much as a word of permission, and showed no signs of leaving. 

“We still haven’t caught the assassin,” Takumi answered without looking up, “Someone needs to stay here and guard you.”

“I have my retainers,” Leo grumbled, “Where are they, anyway?”

The Hoshidan prince hesitated, and nervously fiddled with a page corner. Leo prayed he wouldn’t wrinkle it, “Niles is out gathering information on your attacker. He should be back by nightfall. Odin…Odin left your service shortly after you became king.”

“What?” Leo’s hands clenched. So many things were being taken away from him, all at once. For the umpteenth time since he awoke, he felt terribly overwhelmed, and ever more so, tired. 

“He left, along with those other two who served Prince Xander and Camilla. I think they were called Selena and Laslow?”

“So you won’t leave until Niles returns?” The blonde sighed, exasperated.

“Do you…do you want me to leave?” Takumi finally met him with the eye contact he’d been avoiding for a while now. His pupils quivered, as if he was struggling just to look at him.

“Frankly, yes,” Leo responded curtly, “I’m not sure what our relationship is _supposed_ to be like, but I have no fond memories of you whatsoever. If I may be blunt, your very presence puts me on edge.”

“Oh.” 

The Hoshidan prince dropped his eyes yet again, this time to close his book and return it to the shelf. Leo was surprised that he knew exactly where to place it, considering he’d been told he had a rather convoluted way of organizing his collection. Grouped by genre, from hard science to soft science, followed by fiction, then within each section organized by era of literature, and finally, within each era, author’s surname in alphabetical order.

“I guess I should go,” when Takumi turned back to him, he wore another expression that Leo found completely unfamiliar on his face. His lips were pressed close together, his brows furrowed, but he wasn’t angry. It reminded him of times when Elise would be on the brink of tears, but steadfastly held it in, trying to act like an adult, “The doctor recommended you get some rest, after all. You’ve got a lot of work tomorrow. And clearly, my being here is doing you no good.”

“Okay,” Leo somehow couldn’t find a good response, upon seeing his expression, and settled for something mediocre, “Thank you, Prince Takumi.”

Takumi paused again at the door, “No problem. I hope you get well soon, Le- King Leo.”

Leo watched the last of his ponytail disappear down the hall, before heaving another heavy sigh.

“Why do I feel like I’ve just punched an infant in the face?” He muttered to himself.

“Because you might as well have,” a familiar voice rumbled from the direction of his window.

“Niles!” Leo turned his head to his last remaining retainer, who was crouched upon his windowsill, apparently having decided he was too good for the door. Bits of leaves hung to his clothes, giving away the location of where he’d been eavesdropping from, “How long have you been listening?”

“Long enough,” he purred, “I heard from the maids that you woke up and lost your memory. I can’t believe it’s true. By the way, that Lord Takumi has much better perception than you do. He noticed me ages ago.”

“Did he now?”

“Of course. He’d never have just left you alone if he didn’t. He’s been faithfully attending your bedside for the past three days. He even sent his own retainers out to hunt for your assassin.”

“If you’re trying to make me feel guilty, congratulations. It’s working.”

“Don’t worry,” Niles grinned mischievously, “I’m sure you’ll feel even worse tomorrow, my lord.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed warily, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

-

He’d gotten out of bed the next day, walked over to his office, which he embarrassingly had to ask Niles for the directions to, and immediately wished he were lying back in bed.

Several towers of paperwork were stacked upon his desk. Apparently taking even a three day break from kingship was a terrible idea. Moreover, he had no idea of the state of the country, nor of any of the happenings of the last six months. He’d be going in blind. 

Begrudgingly, Leo pulled himself into his chair, prepared for what would certainly be hours of torturous work. However, upon closer inspection, he found that each stack of paper had a small note tacked on top. The largest pile was labeled: “I already reviewed these and they look fine. Just need your signature.” Upon another note was written: “Since you like reading so much, you can read all of these” and another “Read and sign”. More notes: “Do these ones first”, “Written response required, not urgent”, “These ones were pretty simple to answer so I already wrote the return letters for you. I think I got you pegged pretty well, but you should probably review them just in case.”

Everything was organized for him, as if someone took every precaution to make his return to work as easy as possible. With a sickening feeling, Leo realized that he had a pretty good idea of who was responsible.

“Oh, you’re already here.”

Leo’s eyes shot up to the doorway, where Prince Takumi was awkwardly shuffling in, a stack of papers in his hand. 

“Did you do this?” Leo asked, gesturing to the piles on his desk.

“Yeah,” Takumi shrugged, “I forgot to remind you, but I’m your mediator with Hoshido, so I’ve got a pretty good grasp of Nohr’s government. I had some free time so I thought I’d help you out.”

“Some free time?” Leo raised a brow as he shuffled through the piles, “My gods you’ve even ordered them by territory. This must have taken hours.”

“Shut up,” the other lashed out, and Leo jerked up, expecting to be faced with the angry, temperamental prince he was used to, but instead, Takumi was grinning almost jovially, “Maybe it’d have taken _you_ hours. Not my fault you’re so slow.”

Leo couldn’t believe it. He was giving him attitude. It was as if the Hoshidan didn’t even care that he was the king of an allied nation. 

“How unprofessional,” he tutted under his breath, “Do you always speak this way to foreign dignitaries?”

Takumi stiffened, and Leo couldn’t help flinching, his body already expecting the archer to suddenly pull a bow out of nowhere and send an arrow flying straight through his chest. Instead, Takumi simply looked at him, observing how his breath was racing, his pupils were dilating, the hairs on the little bit of exposed arm beneath his cuffs were standing on end, and Leo wondered if his sharp hearting could catch the beating of his heart, too. 

There was no bow, nor any arrow. Instead, Takumi uttered chokingly, like the words from his own mouth were shattering his whole world, “You’re afraid of me.”

Leo’s tongue hung limp and useless in his mouth, and he turned his eyes away, ashamed. It was irrational. He knew that Takumi was completely different from the possessed being he faced in the Hoshidan throne room, and yet physically, unconsciously, he remembered. Every last second, every arrow, every death of a beloved sibling, all etched into his mind, his spinal cord, his immediate reflexes.

Shyly, a stack of paper, the one Takumi was holding in his hand, he realized, was shoved under his nose. Leo automatically reached up to take it, but when he glanced up, the giver was already halfway out the door.

Not even a goodbye.

Befuddled, Leo skimmed the pages, and quickly realized that he held in his hands a thirty-something page long timeline summarizing the past six months of Nohrian and international politics. Significant events were dated, relationships with dignitaries were noted in detail, a map of current territorial borders was included, and all of it was in Prince Takumi’s candid handwriting. 

The king of Nohr placed the gift down on his desk, rattled. Takumi did not know until yesterday that he had, supposedly, lost half a year of memories. Did he write all of this in one night? Did he even sleep? Now that he thought about it, Leo realized he was too caught up in his own beliefs about the prince to notice how dark the skin under his eyes looked. For someone who prided himself on logic, he easily allowed himself to be swept away by his feelings, contrary to the evidence that was presented to him. He had to be better than that.

Leo quickly rose from his seat and headed out the door, determined to follow the Hoshidan prince and issue his thanks, and perhaps an apology. He didn’t have to look for long. To his surprise, Takumi remained curled outside his door, sitting with his back against the wall and his head in his arms.

“You’re still here,” he remarked.

“I still need to keep guard,” Takumi’s voice came out muffled through his sleeves, but that wasn’t enough to hide the way his words quivered.

Leo bent down and sat on his haunches before the long-haired prince, “Prince Takumi, I’m assuming we were friends before this, weren’t we?”

“I guess,” Takumi shrugged without lifting his head, “Not that it matters anymore. You think I killed your family.”

Leo winced, “I want to apologize for that. You have been nothing but kind to me. I should be thanking you instead. You’re just very different from the Prince Takumi that I know, and that may take some getting used to.”

“And how long will that take?” Takumi finally lifted his head, and Leo couldn’t help but notice the redness that now accompanied his dark circles, “How long am I supposed to live with the fact that my…best friend…suddenly hates me? That he’s terrified of me? What am I supposed to do if you never get your memories back?”

“Were we best friends?” Leo blinked. He had expected their relationship to be close, but never imagined that he’d choose someone as capricious as Takumi as his closest friend.

Takumi continued as if he hadn’t heard him, “Do you know how long I’ve been having nightmares that one day you’d realize I’m not worth it, and leave me? I told you before, not that you remember. You said it was ridiculous back then, but look at how it’s all coming true now-”

“Will you stop?” Finally at the end of his patience, Leo gripped Takumi by the shoulders, grip tight. The archer’s mouth clamped shut and he stared back, suddenly docile, “I don’t hate you. I barely know you, honestly. If what you say is true, and my memories have been changed, then I’m sure I’ll be able to recover them. I’m one of the greatest mages of our time, after all.”

“Gods, you’re such a pompous twat,” Takumi interjected, to which Leo shot a pointed look, “Sorry, habit.”

“As I was saying,” the blonde gritted, “I’ll figure something out. Stop being so overdramatic. You’re clearly going delirious from lack of sleep, so go to bed.”

“But-“

“I promise that I will be able to survive without a guard, in one of the innermost rooms in the castle, surrounded by powerful tomes, for a couple of hours without dying.”

Takumi mulled over this for a bit, until his answer was finally given for him in the form of a tired yawn. He rubbed his eyes grouchily, “Fine. I’ll see you later, Le…King Leo.”

“If you’re used to just calling me Leo, then do so.”

Takumi’s eyes widened as he stood, a faint blush decorating the edges of his cheeks, “Really?”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t really bother me.”

Takumi then smiled at him for the second time, with the same brilliant smile he gave him when he first awoke. Though he didn’t notice it then, he noticed now that his face absolutely lit up when adorned with happiness. Before that expression, he truly felt that this was a completely different person from the insipid archer he once battled. Of course, Leo still retained some doubts, and until he uncovered the entire truth about what happened during the gap in his memory, he would always maintain a healthy amount of caution. However, he highly doubted that the Takumi he was looking at now would wish to cause him any harm.

Not when he smiled like that, anyway.


	3. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The days came and went with surprising ease. Takumi’s mind proved as sharp as his tongue. They holed up in the royal office from dawn to dusk, pouring over documents, and Leo quickly learned to pay close attention to the words that came out of his mouth, since they were more often than not invaluable. Then, when they had free time, he would pull out a chess set, and sometimes even pose a challenge. Though whenever he lost, which was almost always, he would grumble and moan about it for ages, but cheer right up when offered a book or a soup. Outside of government, they discussed history, science, philosophy, and any other topic that caught their fancy, and every conversation was just as stimulating as the last. With each exchange Leo came closer to understanding how the two of them became friends in the first place, and the night in the Hoshidan throne room faded further and further into the back of his mind.

But no matter how hidden away, it was still there, and though Takumi always called him “Leo”, he would continue to respond, “Prince Takumi”. 

What didn’t help was that sometimes he’d catch Takumi staring at him with a faraway look in his eyes. Whenever confronted, he’d brush it off as nothing, but it happened much too often to be merely “nothing”. Along with the closing distance between them, came an ever growing feeling that there was something Takumi wasn’t telling him. Yet he could never bring himself to ask this, a deep intuition telling him that doing so would do irreparable damage to their current relationship.

It was during these times of great inner turmoil but otherwise relative peace that he came across it: an unfamiliar notebook tucked behind stacks of research papers which he unearthed while cleaning out his bookcase. It was a nondescript, leather-bound tome around an inch thick, without any title. In the bottom corner, in his own handwriting, was his name.

Curious, Leo tried to lift the cover, only to find that it wouldn’t budge. Upon closer inspection, there was a trace of magic wafting from it. A sealing spell, most likely. He’d used them to lock up the contents of highly sensitive tomes before. If he sealed this notebook away, then that surely meant there was something of vital importance written in it. 

An excitement bubbled within him. He’d been having a lot of difficulty investigating what had really happened to him. The physician confirmed that he’d been struck on the head, and there were traces of an unidentifiable spell on him, but that alone wasn’t enough to verify that his memory had been affected. Perhaps this mysterious book would finally give him the lead he needed. However, when he cast the usual unsealing spell upon it, the magic washed over without any affect. The pages still refused to budge.

Leo narrowed his eyes, somewhat miffed that he was unable to dispel his own seal. He tried again with a bit more force behind it, to no avail. With a sigh, he set the book on his desk to look over later. Apparently he’d much improved at sealing magic in the past six months.

-

“Yeah, I recognize it,” Takumi affirmed when Leo showed him the mysterious notebook, “You were working on a spell during the first few months of your reign, or something like that. I don’t know the details because you were incredibly secretive about it. Eventually you either succeeded or gave up, because you stopped writing in it.”

The answer wasn’t much help, but it improved his mood to have Takumi’s input regardless.

“It’s probably a diary,” Niles piped up from over his shoulder, mere inches from his ear. Leo nearly jumped out of his seat. He hadn’t notice his retainer enter, and to his embarrassment, Takumi didn’t so much as flinch. He learned a few days ago that the archer prince hunted regularly, which would explain why his senses were so much keener.

Niles didn’t stop there, and his grin widened like a crocodile as he continued, “Since you’re so tense all the time, you must have needed an outlet for all your carnal frustrations. The book was sealed to hide your sauciest secrets-“

“Niles, what are you doing here?” Leo interrupted, his face already burning red.

“Prince Takumi’s retainers have returned from tracking the assassin,” he answered.

Instantly, Takumi shot up from his seat and dashed to the door, “Finally! Thank you, Niles. I’ll talk to you later, Leo.”

Leo barely had time to rush out a mumbled “goodbye” before he was gone. He stared glumly at the vacated seat before him, feeling rather put out. He’d planned to have Takumi stay for tea, and perhaps hypothesize about the contents of the notebook together. He had always taken it for granted that Takumi’s time was his to monopolize, and up until now, the Hoshidan prince had been amazingly accomodating It was the first time that Leo was demoted to second priority.

“Jealous?” Niles waggled his brow.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Leo scoffed, and a few seconds later muttered sheepishly as he rose from his seat, “I’ll go with him. I should probably meet his retainers, after all.”

Niles gave him a smirk like he didn’t believe him at all.

-

When Leo entered the foyer, he found Takumi’s retainers chatting anxiously with their liege, their voices so low they might as well have been whispering. To further suspicions, once they noticed his presence, they stopped talking completely, their faces white with apprehension.

Takumi turned to him, an equally anxious expression marring his features, “Leo.”

“Have you found anything?” Leo asked, noticing the way the Hoshidan retainers squirmed at the question.

Takumi sighed, “Yes. They managed to follow the assassin’s trail for a few days, but lost sight of him…at Hoshido’s borders.”

“Lord Takumi,” the female retainer cast him a worried look, “are you sure telling him this won’t cause a misunderstanding?”

“Leo’s safety is first priority,” Takumi explained, and Leo was instantly flattered by his words, “Besides, this doesn’t guarantee that the assassin was Hoshidan. He could be trying to throw us off, or frame us.”

Leo found himself nodding in agreement, already running through the list of nations that could possibly benefit from another war in his head.

“There’s one more thing,” the other retainer spoke this time, somewhat worried, “He might have turned around. We caught fresh tracks of his on our way back.”

Takumi’s eyes narrowed harshly at this, and his voice dropped in a way that sent shivers up Leo’s spine, “Then we’ll have to increase security measures.”

-

“Don’t you think you’re going too far?” Leo groaned at the man who was rolling out a blanket on his bedroom floor, mumbling something about Nohrians not having foo-tawns.

“Would you rather have Niles or Camilla guard you?”

“No. I’d rather sleep alone,” Leo sighed, “Look, I keep Brynhildr with me at all times. I can defend myself.”

“Yeah, worked perfectly for you last time.”

“Well I survived, so I’m sure I wasn’t helpless.”

Takumi fixed him with a pointed stare, “You lost your memories. I’ve finally rebuilt my rapport, and I’m not going to let you forget about me again.”

“And how long are you going to guard me like this?”

“Until the assassin and all his brethren are caught.”

“We have no idea how long that’ll take. You’ll wreck your back sleeping on the floor. And there’s no way you’d be able to defend anybody then.”

“That’s true,” Takumi paused, then took a look around the room, “but your place is pretty big. I’m sure we could fit another bed in here.”

“No, and that’s final,” Leo shot the idea down immediately. The idea of sleeping in the same room with Takumi, as if they were newlyweds, made his stomach flip uncomfortably. Something about it was just awfully nerve-wracking.

“Fine,” Takumi sighed, realizing that he was getting nowhere, “I’ll just have to set up camp outside your door, I guess.”

He rolled up the blanket and heaved it over his shoulder.

“What? You’re not serious about that, are you?” Leo flustered after him, but Takumi just gave him a noncommittal shrug and left the room.

Flopping back down onto his pillow, Leo let out a heavy puff of air. He felt incredibly tired, and could only hope that Takumi wasn’t going to work too hard for his sake. His last thoughts were of the prince possibly lying on the other side of his door before he allowed sleep to claim him.

-

At some point in the night, Leo’s eyes snapped open, and he instantly felt as if something was wrong. He shot up in his bed and grabbed Brynhildr, bringing forth a magical light to brighten the room. His eyes flickered from wall to wall, and found no signs of movement, save for one thing. The billowing of the curtains that hung over the open window that he distinctly remembered closing before.

Warily, he called out, “I know you’re there. Show yourself.”

It was silent for a few seconds, before a voice oozed from the ceiling, “Aww, and I was hoping this would end prettily.”

Leo’s head snapped up, and he found a stranger clinging to his ceiling fan, clothed so darkly he was nearly invisible in the night. The man dropped down and landed at the foot of his bed without making a sound. Leo raised his tome higher and prepared to strike him down if need be. But first, he wanted his questions answered.

“Were you the one who tried to kill me last time? What did you do to me?”

“What I want to know,” the assassin cooed, “is what you did to yourself. There was enough poison on that dagger to kill an elephant. It was impossible for you to survive.”

“I guess you underestimated me,” Leo smirked, “One more thing. Did you do anything to my memories?”

At this, the assassin cocked his head in genuine confusion, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My memories of the past six months have disappeared, and someone cast a spell on me. Was it you?”

“I’m a ninja, not a mage. Are you sure you’re not simply going crazy? Just like your father?”

That was enough. Leo angrily called upon Brynhildr and sent a tree through his floorboards. The entire room shook with the force of the explosion. To his shock, the assassin dodged it with ease and in the blink of an eye had crossed the span of the bed, drawing a tiny dagger from his sleeve.

“Not much for speed, are you, King Leo?” He cackled gleefully as he raised his arm to strike.

“Don’t touch him!” 

A roar ripped through the room, both as an enraged shout and a bright green arrow that pierced the assassin’s arm with brutal force, practically ripping it right off his shoulders and spraying blood all over the fine royal bedsheets.

Leo’s eyes widened as Prince Takumi marched through the doorway, his divine bow crackling with ferocity, his hair undone and flaying about his head. His movements were wild and violent as he notched another arrow and sent it flying again, this time piercing the assassin through the leg. The ninja let out a cry and collapsed.

“How dare you! I’ll make you pay!” Takumi shouted as he readied a third arrow, this time aimed right for the head. Leo sprang into action.

“Wait!” He jumped out of bed and into the projectile’s path, “We need to keep him alive for questioning!”

For a while, Takumi simply froze, the green arrow still pointed at him, and that moment might have been Leo’s most terrifying since his battle in the throne room. Now, more than ever, Takumi reminded him of the possessed prince he faced back then. He was full of such hate and unfathomable strength, and he was aiming again for his heart. Leo couldn’t stop himself from trembling. Perhaps if a single second more had passed, he’d have even brought up his tome to defend himself from his friend out of pure instinct. But slowly, surely, Takumi lowered his bow, the green magic disappearing like ribbons into the air.

“Oh, right,” he quipped, far too casual for comfort.

It was then that Camilla chose to run into the room, barefoot and still in her nightgown, but with her axe ready at her side.

“I heard a terrible noise! Leo, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he answered, “Prince Takumi saved me.”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Camilla placed a hand over her heart, before turning a furious eye towards the ninja bleeding out on his bed, “And this must be your attacker. I wonder, how shall I execute you?”

“For the last time, nobody is getting killed,” Leo sighed, “We need to get some answers out of him. Like what country he’s working for.”

Camilla gave the assassin another onceover, “That shouldn’t be too difficult. He’s dressed as a Hoshidan ninja. Obviously, we should turn to King Ryoma for an explanation as to why his country dares to raise a hand against my darling brother.”

“Now wait a moment,” Takumi interrupted, turning on her with a fierce spin of his heel, “he could easily be trying to frame Hoshido. And Ryoma would never send an assassin. My older brother only wants peace.”

“But we can never be too sure,” Camilla’s gaze turned to a glower now, “After all, I’ve already lost two siblings to Hoshido. I will allow nobody to take Leo away from me, too. And trust me, if it does turn out that Hoshido was again behind this, I will show no mercy. Not to your country, your brother, or even you, Prince Takumi, if you were complicit.”

At his sister’s accusation, Takumi emitted a dangerous growl, one that had Leo tighten his grip on his tome, “I’ve been trying to be courteous with you, Princess Camilla, but enough is enough. For all your talk about protecting Leo, weren’t you the one who abandoned him in the first place?”

Leo tensed. It was a question that had been stewing on his tongue since he first learned how he came to the crown, but he had always been unable to ask it. 

“I have always resented you,” Takumi continued, glaring daggers, “You left him alone in this accursed castle, and didn’t even visit once until he was nearly dead. _I_ was the one who was there for him! _I_ was the one who picked up the pieces! How dare you waltz back in here and accuse me of wanting to hurt him!”

The Hoshidan Prince continued to get angrier and angrier, until he was practically seething into Camilla’s face, her back propped against the wall. He had never seen his sister, so dominant and sure of herself, look so timid before. Suddenly, the already oppressive atmosphere took an even steeper turn downwards. Takumi was raging, a whirlwind of emotion and fury. The image of a red-eyed archer flicking an arrow through Camilla’s chest flashed through Leo’s mind, and before he knew it, Brynhildr came to life in his hands and a flurry of branches burst through the floor before the prince, knocking him back across the room and into the opposite wall with an indeterminable force.

“Get away from her!” Leo bellowed, and regretted it instantly.

For a long time, there was no response, and slowly, Takumi lifted his head and stared at him, eyes wide and filled with an evident hurt. Shakily, he picked himself up from where he’d been flung, and choked, “Did you think I was actually going to hurt her?”

“N-no,” Leo breathed, spilling out an apology in a hurry, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

“Forget it,” Takumi interrupted and marched for the door, “I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I should have realized you still thought me a murderer.”

“Wait!” Leo called out, rushing out after him, “Takumi!”

It was the first time he addressed him without any honorific, but the hallway was already empty, the Fujin Yumi having carried him away so swiftly it was as if he was never there at all.


	4. Falling through the Cracks

Leo decided to wait until morning before looking for Takumi again. There was the immediate issue of calling Niles to transport the assassin to the prisons and get some answers out of him. Then he had to change the sheets, now ruined with blood. Not to mention the construction work that had to be done on the sections of floor where he used Brynhildr. While inspecting the damage, he also noticed a crack in the wall, and with a gut-wrenching feeling, he realized it was from when he had thrown Takumi against it. Camilla must have noticed the way he was staring at it, since she came up to him and apologized, but he couldn’t put the blame on her. It was all his own fault, after all. Before he knew it, the sun was already coming up, and he started the dreaded trek to the bedroom of his scorned friend.

He didn’t expect there to be no response when he knocked, not even an inquisitive “who’s there?”. It was Niles who found him standing dumbly in front of the door, not knowing where to go from there.

“If you’re looking for Prince Takumi, he’s by the front gate,” Niles gestured outside through a window, “He and his retainers were quite active last night. Alas, when I sneaked in to check on them, they were only packing.”

“Packing?” Leo’s heart dropped. In an instant, he was flying down the hallway, leaping down stairs and bursting through doors in a panic. The servants working their morning duties gave him puzzled glances as he passed, but for once Leo paid no thought to his demeanor as a royal. By the time he made it outside, his hair was decorated with flyaways, his clothing was unkempt like never before, and he himself was breathing heavily and slick with sweat.

Takumi stood at the gates with his retainers. Leo had learned their names yesterday: Oboro and Hinata. Hinata was busy loading bags into a horse drawn carriage, and Oboro was glaring at him like he’d just presented her with a dead rat. Takumi’s eyes also caught him as he turned towards the commotion, but almost immediately, he turned away again, as if the very sight of him was unbearable.

“You’re leaving?” Leo murmured, trying to ignore the way that simple movement made him feel more tired than all the running it took to bring him here.

“Yes, I’m returning to Hoshido posthaste,” Takumi still refused to look him in the eye as he responded, gazing far off into the distance.

Leo grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around before he even realized what he was doing. Their eyes met again, one set surprised, and the other frantic. 

“Don’t go!” Leo surprised himself with how loudly the statement came out. He hadn’t meant to shout, but his self-control was still playing catch-up with his actions. He couldn’t stop, “Please, I can’t lose you too. I know I messed up, but it won’t happen again. I’ll be a better friend. I promise. You’re one of the only things keeping me sane right now, and I have no idea what to do if you’re gone. Let’s just go back to the way things were. We can play chess, or read, or whatever it was we used to do together. Just tell me and I’ll do it.”

Takumi stared back at him, bewildered, as if he wanted to interject but couldn’t find any place to squeeze in the words between the ones that Leo was spouting at him. Finally, he resorted to just clamping a firm hand over Leo’s mouth.

The Nohrian king blinked in surprise as the rough appendage met his lips. Takumi’s fingertips were callused from practice, and his palm smelled faintly of furs, leathers, and a strangely not unpleasant sweat. 

“Leo, I’m not leaving forever,” Takumi sighed at him, “I’m just reporting what happened to Ryoma. I also need to investigate why the assassin seemed Hoshidan. If there really is a splinter group targeting you in Hoshido, we’ll need to address it.”

The tension visibly left Leo’s shoulders, and a heavy relief swept his body. His legs almost gave out from under him, as if he’d been held up by sheer force of desperation this whole time. 

“Oh,” He breathed once Takumi removed his hand, his tone drastically lighter, “Well you could have mentioned that. Your words were very misleading.”

Takumi rolled his eyes but gave him a hearty clap on his shoulder, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. It’s nice to know you care so much, though.”

Leo could feel the warmth overtaking his cheeks, and knew he probably looked bright red at the moment. Still, he tried to maintain a business-like tone, “In any case, I’ll be going with you. I have yet to visit Hoshido, after all.”

Takumi snickered, “Actually, you already came by three times since you became king.”

“Well I don’t remember, so it doesn’t count.”

Leo would never admit it, but he was also wildly curious. He never had the chance to experience Hoshido during peacetime before, and the draw of a foreign culture was magnetic. There was also the matter of Corrin. A small part of him wondered, and simultaneously dreaded, what the Corrin who chose Hoshido over Nohr was like.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Takumi tilted his head cockily, “You’ll be coming back to even more paperwork. I know you still haven’t gotten the hang of that.”

Leo grimaced. He had a point. Luckily, rescue came in the form of a soft voice that had snuck up on him without notice.

“I can take care of that while you’re gone.”

Leo turned in surprise, just as Takumi yet again averted his eyes, as Camilla waved, striding out from the castle.

“I’ve been trained in politics as well,” she elaborated, “and it’s the least I could do. Prince Takumi.”

The archer prickled as he was addressed, but hesitantly turned to face her anyway, “Yes?”

“Thank you,” Camilla smiled at him, prompting a look of shock.

“What?” Takumi was flabbergasted, “What are you thanking me for?”

“Your words were harsh, but I needed to hear them,” Camilla sadly turn her eye towards her brother, “Leo had always been so reliable and understanding, that I took it for granted that he didn’t need as much care as Corrin or Elise. Though it’s true that he makes for a far better ruler than I could ever be, I should have never left his side for so long, simply because I was afraid to return. You made me realize that, and you’ve done a much better job in my place. Why, you care so much for him, that now I feel silly for ever accusing you of conspiring against him. Forgive me, dearie?”

Her solemn speech ended on a lighthearted note that had Takumi grinning bashfully. Something strange twisted in Leo’s stomach as the smile that had always been directed to him now beamed at his sister.

“Of course,” Takumi stepped forward and reached out a hand, which Camilla accepted with a hearty shake, “so long as I’m forgiven too. Sorry I lost my temper, it’s something I’m working on.”

“Apology accepted,” she answered.

Leo frowned, “Are you sure you’ll be okay? I thought you hated it here.”

“Beruka will be with me. I will be fine. Besides,” she winked, “I’ll need to get used to the castle if I want to visit my dear brother more often.”

“Thank you, big sister,” Leo smiled and turned to Takumi next, “I suppose that settles it. I’m coming with you.”

“Suit yourself,” the Hoshidan shrugged and pointed a thumb at the carriage while his retainers took their seats up front to drive the horses, “Get in.”

“Wait. Now?” Leo floundered, “I haven’t even packed yet.”

“We’re already running behind schedule,” Takumi had the gall to place a hand on his lower back and physically push him towards the carriage, “You have a set of clothes at Shirasagi anyway. And you’re already carrying Brynhildr. What else do you need?”

It was true that he’d taken his tome with him, even while frantically chasing after Takumi, but even so, Leo felt as if he was being shoved around, quite literally.

“I need to bring something to read,” he grumbled, a last stand at asserting his authority.

“I have books,” Takumi countered with ease, and finally had Leo all the way into the vehicle with one final push.

Leo accepted his fate with a sigh. He could hear Camilla giggling at his plight from outside, and it was infuriating. He also remembered that he left the mysterious notebook back in the castle, and now he wouldn’t be able to work on it until he returned. He hadn’t brought his crown, either, and he wasn’t sure how appropriate it was for him to visit Hoshido so underdressed, even if for some reason Takumi didn’t seem to worry about it all. The external distractions vanished, however, once Takumi entered behind him and sat in the seat next to him, with all the luggage taking up the space on the other side. Suddenly, the inside of the carriage felt ten times smaller. It didn’t help when the horses started to life, and with every sway of the wagon, loose Hoshidan sleeves would brush by his arms. The Nohrian frowned. He was obviously more claustrophobic than he initially thought.

In an attempt to escape the stuffiness, Leo stuck his head out the window and waved his goodbyes to his sister. Only when she vanished from sight and he had no excuses left, did he retract his neck. And once he did, all that was left was himself and Takumi in one confined space. 

“So,” Leo looked for a distracting conversation, “how is Hoshido?”

“How we’re doing? Or how it is in general?”

“Both.”

“Hoshido is doing well. Honestly, we’re having a much easier time recovering from the war than Nohr. We have enough natural resources that even after handing out foreign aid, there is plenty left over. As for in general, you’ll have to see it in person. It’s a shame you don’t remember being there in spring, since I remember you really liked the cherry blossoms. But it’s autumn right now, so we’ll be able to go leaf viewing instead. You’ll love it. The trees turn into these amazing colours, and there’s this one place by a bridge that my siblings and I used to go to when we were kids and there’s this bench that’s perfect for reading…”

Leo found himself smiling unconsciously simply from listening to Takumi babble on. Although their conversations were usually back and forth, with quick jabs passing between them, there was something special about simply sitting back and listening to the Hoshidan’s voice passing through his ears. It was like his words had the same relaxing properties as Azura’s song, without any mysterious powers involved.

So it was easy to notice when his voice broke for a second as they passed over a rough patch of road, a wince escaping instead.

“Takumi?” Leo looked at him, concerned.

“Sorry, where was I?” Takumi simply scooted forward a bit, purposely avoiding leaning on the back of the seat. 

Leo suddenly remembered the crack in the wall.

“Takumi, how is your back?” He asked, his gaze turning deathly serious.

“It’s fine,” the other lied very obviously, as he studied the view outside the window: rows of bushes.

“Show me,” Leo demanded.

“No. I said it’s fine.”

Not to be deterred, Leo gripped the back collar of his kimono and tried to pull it down. Takumi’s hand flew up to grab his wrist immediately. He was immediately halted by the archer’s arm strength.

“W-what are you doing!?” Takumi balked at him, his cheeks turning pink.

“I want to see! Take it off!”

“W-wait! Leo!”

-

Outside, Hinata shot worried glances at the coach behind them, “Uh, they do know we can hear them if they shout like that, right?”

Oboro glowered, her sights focused ahead, “Shut up. I’m trying to pretend that I can’t.”

-

“Okay, okay!” Finally, Takumi relented, “But I can take it off myself.”

Leo let go of his collar, and watched with close attention as Takumi nervously untucked some of his top from its obi so that he could uncross the V-shaped wrap, revealing a window of skin down to his navel. 

Wow. 

Leo had expected the archer to be well built, having served in the army and being obsessed with training as he was, yet seeing the firm, sculpted muscles in person still caught him off guard.

“Would you like to commission a painting?” Takumi jolted him from his trance, and Leo snapped up with embarrassment to catch him grinning smugly at him. Then, with a sigh, Takumi turned his back and muttered, more glumly, “Just so you know, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

Somehow, those words didn’t ease him at all.

Without any more fanfare, Takumi shrugged the back of his kimono off his shoulders, and it pooled at his waist to reveal the expanse of his back. 

An enormous, purpling bruise covered nearly all of it. Bandages had been applied near the lower back, implying even worse injuries that were kept hidden. Hesitantly, the mage extended his senses and detected traces of healing magic as far as bone deep, implying his ribs had been broken at one point.

Leo’s hand flew up to his mouth. He felt like he could puke. 

“I did this to you,” his voice cracked.

“It was an accident,” as if sensing that he was about a hair’s breadth from tears, Takumi immediately shrugged his top back and turned to appease him, “and I’ve been through way worse. I had a maid patch me up, anyway. I can hardly feel it. And once we get to Hoshido, I’ll have Sakura take a look at it, and I’ll be as good as new in no time. So…uh…oh gods please don’t cry.”

The fact that even now, Takumi was only focused on making him feel better, did not help. And really, he did try. The last thing he wanted to do was break down now, not after how hard he tried to keep everything in. From the moment he arrived and took on the crown, Odin’s absence, and the deaths of Xander and Elise, he had held it back like a true king of Nohr. He found distractions in anything. In his work, in his books, and in Takumi himself. He was doing so well, built his walls so high, so strong, and so sturdily. But Takumi kept chipping away at it, even if he hurt himself in the process, and now he was leaking through the crack that had formed.

Takumi raised a thumb to brush against the corner of his eye, and it came away wet. 

“On second thought, cry if you want,” he crooned at him, and Leo didn’t even know Takumi was capable of crooning, “I think you need it. And I’ll be here if you need me, too.”

He did, Leo realized. He truly needed Takumi. Not just now, as he buried his face into his shoulder and sobbed, but when he first woke up and Takumi was there to explain things, and when he was overwhelmed by work and Takumi was there to work with him, and when he was nearly killed but Takumi was still there to protect him. At some point, before he even knew it, Takumi had wedged himself into his life like a piece from a completely different and unexpected puzzle, but somehow, he still fit perfectly.

-

Days later, they finally arrived at the gates of Shirasagi, to the entire Hoshidan family waiting by the gates. Takumi was the first to leap out, immediately opening his arms to Sakura for a hug, as the rest of his siblings piled on after. Leo shuffled out awkwardly in his footsteps, but froze before his feet even touched the ground.

Even now, he still had some inkling of doubt about what had happened to him. The assassin denied altering his memories, but there was still a chance that he was a very good liar, or that somebody else had done it instead. Leo had even suspected himself, upon discovering the notebook containing details of his secret spell. But even the ability to alter memories could only reach so far.

If the details of the war had been affected, then he could accept that. However, childhood memories, people, and the very clear recollection of the Nohrian princess holed up in her tower. Years upon years of memories such as those would be nearly impossible to manipulate. Not to this extent.

Takumi looked back at him, worried by the stupefied look on his face, but for once, Leo didn’t even notice him. All his attention was focused on the man standing next to him. A _man_ who was clearly Corrin, his beloved _sister_.

At that point, Leo was certain. His memories were fine, intact as they always had been. It was this world. This was not his world, and not his Corrin.

And with a plummeting feeling he realized that this was not his Takumi, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna try to make the next chapter not end so depressingly.


	5. Mistakes were Made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is still rated T...probably.

Any misgivings Leo had about turning up suddenly uninvited were quickly quelled. King Ryoma was more than accommodating. A mighty impressive guest room was prepared, a bath was drawn, and dinner was held in the hall, with all the royal family attending.

It was here that Leo came to a revelation: miso soup was delicious.

He took another deep sip, fighting against the instinct that told him drinking directly from the bowl was impolite. Takumi insisted that this was how Hoshidans drank soup, and looking around the dinner table, that was true. There was also the issue of chopsticks, which he, embarrassingly enough, had no skill with whatsoever.

“If I’d been given time to prepare for this trip, I would have practiced,” he grumbled under his breath as Takumi snickered at him.

“I’m surprised you didn’t retain any muscle memory. You used to be great at it.”

Obviously, there was no muscle memory to retain. The Leo who knew how to drink soup and use chopsticks was an entirely different person. He sneaked another glance at the Hoshidan Prince by his side, who was obliviously battling his older sister for the juiciest slice of meat. It was a dark mark on his conscious that he hadn’t told him yet. However, the thought of Takumi’s disappointed stare stopped him at every turn. Furthermore, there was the issue of where the other Leo had gone. If they switched places, then he was dead at the hands of the possessed being in the throne room. If the assassin was telling the truth, then he was dead of poison. In most scenarios, he was dead. Leo didn’t know which was worse: living a lie, or breaking the news to Takumi. He resolved to uncover the whole truth first, and knew that as soon as he returned to Krakenburg, he was going to have another crack at the notebook. He had a strong feeling that it had something to do with this entire situation.

Leo’s gaze then shifted to the other Hoshidan Prince, the one sitting diagonally across from him. This one was familiar, yet still a complete stranger. Corrin met his eyes and smiled cheerily. Leo forced his own lips to curl in response. There was a bitterness that he knew was unreasonable. In his world, Corrin chose Nohr, resulting in the unjust conquering of a peace-loving nation, the suffering of thousands of innocents, and nothing to show for it but all of them lying dead at the feet of a single archer. In this world, Corrin chose a country which had no Hans or Iago to lead their army to slaughter civilians, and left Nohr in much better condition than they did Hoshido. From an objective standpoint, this Corrin made the correct choice. Leo knew he couldn’t fault him for it, but even so, he could not bring himself to be happy before this strange man who was not really his sister, either.

“Leo, are you okay?” Takumi’s concerned voice broke him free of his trance.

“Sorry, I was just thinking,” Leo spurred back into action, reaching across to fail to pick up a spring roll with his useless wooden utensils. Takumi snorted at his struggle, but even so, picked up a few rolls himself and dumped them into Leo’s bowl, much to his humiliation.

“Stop treating me like a child,” he grumbled.

“I’m not,” Takumi was smug, “Even a child can use chopsticks better than you.”

-

Business followed immediately after, and Leo met Ryoma in his office, with Takumi accompanying him as always. 

“I have sent my retainers to perform a head count of all documented ninjas in Hoshido,” Ryoma revealed, “If the assassin was one of ours, then we shall know. Although I would like to guarantee that Hoshido means you no harm, it is true that there are several nobles and members of government who are unhappy with the lenience we’ve given Nohr.”

Leo sighed under the burden of inheriting a hated kingdom, “That is understandable. However, my concern is if the ninja is not from Hoshido. That would imply that somebody is trying to incite a war.”

“Mokushu,” Takumi barked, crossing his arms firmly, “It has to be them. The ninja who attacked Leo was skilled. He would not have come from an ordinary country. Furthermore, they were benefiting from the war. They likely want to use a second one to expand their influence.”

“It isn’t good to throw around accusations, Takumi,” Ryoma chastised.

Leo, for one, thought Takumi had a point and made sound arguments, but he had to agree that they couldn’t be hasty in pointing fingers. The world had yet to settle down from the conflict that had upturned it. The last thing it needed was a spark for the powder-keg.

“I’m just saying,” Takumi grumbled, but stood down, “Something to keep in mind while we’re investigating.”

“You’re too quick to hurry into things,” his brother sighed, “Take King Leo, for example. You wrote in your letter that you were coming back, alone, and quitting your post as ambassador, and when you actually arrive, you’ve brought him with you and are getting along as well as ever. 

Leo stilled at “quitting your post as ambassador”, and the rest of Ryoma’s words filtered through his ears unheard. He clenched his fists tightly and held himself back from demanding an explanation on the spot. Takumi really had been planning on leaving, after all. With practiced professionalism, he regathered his bearings, and turned his attention back to Ryoma. Takumi turned silent from then on, and instead bore holes into the tatami mats for the rest of the evening.

-

“Why did you lie?”

Leo rounded on his companion the instant they were out of earshot, cornering him in the hallway.

“I didn’t lie…I just changed my mind,” Takumi muttered softly with some guilt and, almost imperceptibly, what seemed like apprehension.

He moved to leave, but Leo moved with him, “When did you change your mind? Was it because you wanted to? Or…” he hesitated, “Or was it because I asked you to?”

“I don’t know, both?” 

“I don’t understand. If you were upset enough to want to leave after I attacked you, then how could you change your mind so easily? How can you pretend it doesn’t bother you?”

They were passing into the sleeping quarters now, and Leo lowered his voice out of consideration, but he sounded no less frustrated. 

“Because that’s not what you need from me right now, Leo,” Takumi sighed, finally parting ways with some information, “You’re the king of a very, very broken country. The last thing I want to do is give you more trouble. I thought that I should quit because if you were afraid of me, then I’d just stress you out by being there. But then you…you told me you still needed me. So I stayed.”

“Then is this all because of a sense of duty?” For some reason, Leo found himself getting riled up. The meaning he gleaned from Takumi’s words frustrated him, “You think that because I’m King of Nohr, you need to take care of my mental health? Well it’s not necessary. I’m not made of porcelain.”

“You don’t know what you were like, Leo!” Takumi shouted suddenly, before lowering his volume again. Too late, Leo thought, given that half the building might have been woken up by now, “No matter what, I don’t want to repeat my mistakes.”

“What mistakes?” Leo asked with trepidation. He could finally feel himself getting closer to some hidden truth, yet he still feared it. He enjoyed their current dynamic. Takumi was a good friend, caring at times, irritating at others, but always engaging. Now there was an additional factor, which was that whatever happened, it was between Takumi and a different Leo. He was merely a replacement, a replica filling a vacant spot for the moment. Even so, he wanted to chase the truth, his curiosity getting the better of him, “You said you wanted my memory to return, didn’t you? Yet you keep hiding things from me. How do you expect me to remember like this?”

“Tomorrow is clear. It should be a good day for leaf viewing,” Takumi, to his surprise, changed the topic completely.

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s go look at the leaves, and I’ll tell you the whole story then. Right now, I’m just tired, Leo,” and he was right. Takumi, with his hunched shoulders and worried brow, looked very tired, and very small. 

Leo couldn’t bring himself to be ruthless. He merely nodded and turned, guiding himself back to his own room.

“Tomorrow, then.”

-

Tomorrow found the two of them standing at the peak of the bridge in the royal gardens. Takumi was leaning against the railing on his forearms, his gaze focused on the individual leaves floating down the river, like flames atop the water. All around, trees erupted in reds, oranges, and yellows. They bore the colours in greater volume than anything in Nohr, and Leo found himself in awe as he took in the sight. For a while they simply stood their and took in the view, a soft wind swirling erstwhile foliage around them. The moment should have been relaxing, but there was a heavy tension in the air, and Takumi was coiled like a wound up spring.

Finally, he broke the silence, “I love you.”

Whatever Leo expected, it was not that. He snapped to his friend in bewilderment, not even his many years of stone-faced practice being capable to hide the surprise on his features. Takumi continued to stare ahead, his pupils shaking, never focusing on one place.

“I thought I’d get the hard part out of the way, first,” he explained, “You don’t have to answer me, by the way. I already know you don’t feel the same.”

Leo blinked, “You’ve told me this before?”

Slowly, Takumi nodded.

Leo didn’t know what to make of this revelation. Certainly, Takumi was a great friend, he could even admit that he found him attractive a lot of the time, but the notion of him in a romantic light seemed like a terrible idea, all things considered. For one, he was the King of Nohr. He needed to produce heirs. Takumi himself was a royal prince. Just imagining the scandal that would erupt gave him a headache. He’d be a disgrace as a king. He could imagine with good reason that the Leo of this world took all those things into consideration.

“And then?”

“I couldn’t take it,” Takumi bit out bitterly, his eyes narrowing, “I resigned because I didn’t want to see you, knowing you didn’t feel the same way. Just like this time, you begged me not to leave, but I didn’t listen. Then when I was in Hoshido all I’d get were letters from you, which I didn’t read, and then from Niles, telling me you weren’t eating or sleeping. But I was still too stubborn to go back. ’Let him starve’ I thought. ‘Serves him right.’”

That seemed more like the kind of reaction Takumi would have, Leo mused. It was certainly more like him to be angry and ornery than to be doting.

“What changed?” 

“I didn’t go,” the Hoshidan smiled sadly, “so you came to me. Rode to Hoshido without rest, or a convoy. It was awfully dangerous and stupid of you.”

“It was,” Leo agreed, “Surely I wasn’t thinking straight.”

Takumi laughed, “You definitely weren’t. Long story short, you looked terrible and I was convinced that you’d probably be dead without me, so I decided to suck it up and go back.”

“That’s a bit concise,” Leo cocked his head, “I think I’d rather hear the long version of the story.”

Takumi bit his lip. He closed his eyes and breathed out, almost meditative. 

“Okay,” he acquiesced once a few seconds had passed, “for the sake of getting your memories back. But trust me, you won’t like what you hear.”

-

Three months prior.

Takumi stared, flabbergasted, at the Nohrian king in his bedroom. When Ryoma said he had a visitor, this was definitely not what he was expecting. Especially not in this state, with his clothes drenched and his hair mussed, and terrible dark circles under his eyes to match the gauntness of his cheeks.

“Leo, what are you-“ he began, but was instantly cut off when the other surged forth, reaching one hand around the back of his neck, and pulled him in for a kiss. His lips were cold, chilled from the rain, and unmoving, as if the obligatory contact was the only thing on his mind.

Takumi shoved him off instantly, confused and angry, “What the hell!?”

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Leo smiled bitterly, “Either I give you this, or you’ll leave me. Just like everybody else.”

To Takumi’s shock, the blonde began to peel off his clothes, advancing until both of them were standing at the edge of his futon. He’d made his way three buttons down his inside out shirt when the Hoshidan prince finally found the sense to grab his hands.

“Stop that!” He hissed, “Are you drunk?”

The look in Leo’s eyes was wild, “Perfectly sober, just starving and sleep deprived. Really, I don’t know what I’d do without you, Takumi.”

“You’re not making any sense. You rejected me.”

“Yes, I did. My stance hasn’t changed. I can’t give you a relationship,” the hope in Takumi’s heart died at his words, “but I can give you everything else. Just come back to Nohr with me. Please.”

He was begging him now, clinging and pitiful. This was not the Leo he knew. He was needed, Takumi realized. Leo didn’t _want_ him, but he did _need_ him.

“Alright,” he sighed.

In a flash, Leo was all over him, his teeth nipping at his collar and his hands tugging his obi loose. He pushed Takumi down onto his futon, straddled his waist, and roughly pulled the hems of his yukata aside to bare his torso. 

“Wait! You really don’t have to-“ Takumi was cut off again, in the same method, but this time with an added tongue.

“I told you I can give you everything else. Don’t you want me?” His paramour broke away to ask.

With the sight of Leo leaning over him in the moonlight, picture perfect despite his weariness, and Takumi himself still reeling with disbelief, he couldn’t bring himself to lie.

Numbly, he nodded, "I want you."

And he was given exactly what he wanted.


	6. The Mad King's Replacement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter took a week longer since some deviations I made in the previous chapter ended up affecting the plot more than I thought and I had to take some time to rework the story. 
> 
> I'm still not super satisfied with how it turned out, but at least it's mostly coherent now.

Leo stretched his shoulders as he wearily stumbled out of yet another meeting with King Ryoma. There was no indication that any Hoshidan ninja left their post in the last few months, and Takumi’s theory about Mokushu was looking more and more plausible by the day. Now all he was waiting on was a notarized confession, which he would get so long as Niles’ interrogation was effective.

The meetings were draining him more than usual since Takumi wasn’t there to aid him.

He sucked in a bitter sigh. He’d seen neither leopard hide nor silver hair of the Hoshidan Prince since his admission last week. He was angry, but more so at himself than Takumi. He’d pushed for answers, even though he knew they’d probably soil their relationship, and they had. He was even angrier at his other self, the Leo who had borne the crown before him. For him to use another person’s feelings to chain them to his side was unfathomably manipulative. And the worst part was, Leo could understand why he did it.

In the short time he had with Takumi, he’d already become terribly codependent on him. The title of king wasn’t easy to bear alone, and as usual, when given that sliver of care, he clung to it. Furthermore, Takumi was attractive. Even if he were not obligated to, Leo found the idea of sharing a bed with him quite tolerable. He was intelligent and engaging, and if he were a woman Leo could say that he’d found the perfect bride, but his father’s ghost and the crown reminded him that so long as he was not a woman, he was not a candidate. In that case, the other Leo, had found a way to have Takumi without abandoning his duties as king. The optimal choice for himself, and a slap in the face for Takumi.

Leo growl audibly this time, his foul mood being made known in the way he stomped himself down the halls. How could he be so selfish? How could he even be capable of such a thing? Bristling, he rounded the corner, just in time to be bowled over by the figure running down the other way.

“Ugh. Watch where you’re-“ he stopped to take in the person sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, “Corrin.”

The white haired man reached out a hand, and Leo hesitantly took it. It was a hand much larger than his sisters, and when he was pulled up and drawn to his full height, he was staring at the face of someone much taller than her as well, and of sharper features. He looked just like a stranger.

“Sorry, I was running late to archery practice with Sakura. You okay, Leo?”

“Yes. I’m fine,” Leo was never able to find words to say to this Corrin without it feeling wrong, “You were practicing archery?” 

“Yes. Takumi taught me a bit during the war and I thought I should keep polishing my skills. Sakura agreed to help.”

“Takumi isn’t teaching you himself?”

“Well…he’s been in Nohr all this time...” Corrin looked downcast, and Leo guiltily mirrored his eye movement to the floor boards, “And he’s always practicing by himself lately.”

“I haven’t seen him on the range,” and he had definitely looked for him there, dropping by almost obsessively in hopes of finding him.

“When Takumi wants to be alone, he heads to a secret clearing in the forest. But you didn’t hear that from me,” Corrin winked at him, and Leo found his lips tilting into a smile for the first time since he met his distant yet familiar new brother.

-

Leo swallowed as he gazed into the thicket of the Hoshidan woods. Even in autumn, with a blanket of foliage already fallen, the trees were thick with colour. Everything was bare by this time in Nohr. The leaves crunched loudly beneath his feet. With Takumi’s acute hearing, he could only hope he wouldn’t run away when he heard him coming.

The training field wasn’t hard to locate. After a few minutes of walking in the general direction that Corrin recommended, he could begin to hear the faint thwacks of arrow hitting wood. Leo stopped just short of the range, a cleared area that might have once been packed with hard dirt, but was now overgrown with yellowing grass. A series of worn and weathered targets sat on wooden posts about fifty meters away. Takumi was standing still, with a practice yumi raised expertly in his hand. He didn’t spare a single glance for Leo, and released an arrow, sending it straight through the center. A shiver ran through Leo’s spine automatically. He knew the archer’s deadly aim too well.

Takumi nonchalantly withdrew another arrow from the quiver, and finally decided to acknowledge his visitor, “Let me guess: Corrin told you I was here.”

“He also told me not to tell you it was him,” Leo chuckled as he left his spot in the trees and made the steps to the Hoshidan’s side. It no longer surprised him when Takumi recognized him without seeing him, merely by the sound of his footsteps. In many ways, Takumi reminded him of a wild animal, alert and cautious, unpredictable and capricious. It was charming, really.

“So?” Takumi shot another cursory bullseye in the spare second between his sentences, “Why are you here?”

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

“Obviously. I thought you’d want some space,” he lowered his bow, quiver now empty, and began an angry trudge across the field to retrieve his arrows. Leo followed, “Surely you don’t want anything to do with me now. Did you come here to fire me as ambassador?”

Leo’s brows shot up, and he nearly tripped over his own feet in surprise, “What? Why would I do that? I came- I came to apologize.”

Takumi lowed in his tracks and spun around into a backwards gait, an identical look of surprise on his face, “Apologize? For what?”

“I took advantage of your feelings. I basically forced you to stay with me,” Leo had assumed that Takumi was avoiding him due to the awkwardness of the situation, but now, seeing him in person, he could recognize a familiar look in his eyes. He himself bore it countless times before his father. 

Shame.

“I could have spoken up,” Takumi turned away again, and began to busy himself pulling arrows out of the weathered wooden targets, “I could have told you at any time that I would stay with you, even if you didn’t- even without anything in return, but I didn’t. I let you debase yourself because I was selfish. _I_ was the one taking advantage of _you_.”

“No, it was my fault.”

“No, it was mine.”

The two of them glared at each other, a silent feud warring between their stubborn scowls. Leo wondered how it had come to this. He came to apologize, but they just ended up fighting again. As he considered capitulating, Takumi suddenly burst into a fit of giggles.

Leo gaped as Takumi unsympathetically made a mockery of his turmoil with gleeful chuckles, “Excuse me? Is something funny?”

Takumi calmed himself, “No, it’s just this whole situation is so stupid. I was so worried you’d be angry, yet here you are, thinking the same of me. I should have known. You always were too quick to take responsibility, and myself too quick to take the blame.”

“You know me well,” Leo muttered, and at the back of his head, he couldn’t stop thinking about how close they must have been: Takumi and the other him.

“I know everything about you,” Takumi smiled at him, but truly, it was a smile for someone else, “Let’s just call it a draw? I’ll put it behind us, if you will.”

Leo continued staring forlornly, lost in study of his expression. Takumi prompted, “Leo?”

The Nohrian blinked free of his trance, and carefully collected his scattered thoughts. He took a moment longer to respond, “Of course. Consider the past…as if it never happened.”

With a nod, the archer trotted back to the other end of the range, “Well I’m going to fire off a few more rounds. See you later?”

“Can I stay and watch?”

“But you didn’t bring a book,” Takumi tilted his head, confused.

Leo responded with equal confusion, “Why would I need a book? I asked if I could watch.”

“No, it’s just that your version of watching me practice is just reading somewhere on the side. You never actually cared about archery before.”

“I just thought that I should get used to watching you wield a bow. I don’t want there to be any more incidents like that night,” Leo’s gaze unconsciously wandered to Takumi’s back. It seemed healed now, but the injuries would never leave his memories regardless, “Does my presence bother you?”

“No,” Takumi responded immediately, and strung his bow with more excitement than usual, “Stay if you want. In fact, I’m glad you’re finally taking an interest!”

Leo couldn’t help it. The feeling of doing something for Takumi that the previous Leo never did made his heart swell in his chest. This time, the smile that he wore was for him, and him alone. He wanted to collect more and more until they vastly outnumbered the ones shared before him. 

It occurred to him again that if it wasn’t for his duty as king, he would consider Takumi the perfect partner. He could imagine it. Sitting down to dinner, working together in the study, debating over the passages in books, holding his hand, kissing him, or waking up next to him. As he watched Takumi shoot arrow after arrow, Leo imagined all of these things, and found that he didn’t mind such a future. The more he thought of it, the more he itched for it. Eventually, the sun disappeared behind the trees, painting the skies a shade too dark for effective practice. Half an hour after, Takumi announced the end of his training. By that time, Leo had taken plenty of time to think.

“Follow closely, the woods get dark at night. Wouldn’t want you getting lost on the way back,” Takumi fell into step just ahead of him, and the familiar smell of leather and sweat wafted back to him. 

“Takumi,” he broke his silence and hoped he wasn’t making a mistake, “did I ever tell you why I rejected you?”

The dark form of the Hoshidan prince stiffened, but his pace didn’t falter. Takumi answered with a surprising evenness to his voice, “I assumed the reason was obvious. You didn’t love me.”

“Unlikely. I’ve realized that I’m perfectly capable of falling in love with you-“ Leo muffled a yelp as he abruptly collided with the sturdy back in front of him. Takumi had stopped walking.

He turned back on Leo with a flash, fire in his eyes, “What are you talking about?”

“Wait, why are you angry?” Leo rubbed his chin where it bumped the back of Takumi’s head. He wasn’t expecting this reaction.

“I thought we just went through this. Don’t treat me like I have a chance if I don’t.”

“I’m being serious,” Leo was still musing, “I want to try it. An actual relationship. None of that bedwarming nonsense from before.”

Takumi looked like a spooked deer, the moonlight glinting off his eyes made them appear even more expressive than usual. 

“Are you being serious?” His voice quivered, and Leo wanted to reach out and steady it in his palms, “If this is some sick joke of yours… Why now, after you’ve forgotten all about me?”

Leo didn’t know how much this other Leo valued the throne, or why, but he himself had experienced firsthand the cost of blind nationalism. He fought for Nohr once, he conquered Hoshido, he believed in his father, and what did he have to show for it? Maybe under different circumstances he would have held steadfast to his duty as king, but it didn’t seem quite so worth it to him now. He was sick and tired of living up the expectations of a dead man.

“You could say I’ve had a shift in perspective.”

Takumi didn’t seem satisfied, “I don’t know about this. Your memories aren’t all there. What if you change your mind? Given our past, this probably isn’t the best idea.”

Leo rolled his eyes, though it went unseen in the shadows, “For goodness sake, I’m offering myself on a silver platter here, and you won’t even consider it? I don’t want to focus on my forgotten memories, I’d rather make new ones.”

Especially since they weren’t his memories to begin with. Leo had decided. If fate gave him this second chance at life, then he was going to take it and live it to its fullest. If the other Leo was only going to hurt Takumi, then he would treat him much better in his place, and take full advantage of his role as the amnesiac king. 

Takumi scoffed bitterly, and Leo’s pulse raced as he considered the possibility that despite his feelings, Takumi would do the logical thing and reject him regardless. 

After what felt like an eternity, Takumi huffed, “I must be an idiot for agreeing to this. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

If he wasn’t so confident in the law of gravity, Leo could have sworn he was floating.


	7. Memoirs of a King

Niles arrived the day after, hand delivering a letter of written confession, and kickstarting preparations to return to Nohr.

“You were right. It was Mokushu,” Leo shared the contents of the confession with Takumi immediately after receiving it. The prince cocked a smug smile at him in return.

“So? What are you going to do now? Surely they’ll deny it. Say he was acting alone.”

“We’ll see what they have to say in person. I’ve already decided to pen a letter to daimyo Kotaro, but Mokushu’s etiquette is closer to Hoshido’s than Nohr’s, so I’ll be needing your help.”

At the notion of lending his aid, Takumi perked up, “Well, if you need me, I suppose.”

“Good,” Leo smirked wryly, “Now tell me how to make this sound as passive aggressive as possible.”

-

It was his last dinner at Shirasagi, and Leo finally mastered the use of chopsticks. Sadly, there was nobody else around to see it save for Takumi, who was dining with him in his room, helping him rehearse his meeting with Mokushu.

“King Leo,” Takumi put on a most awful impression of the daimyo’s gravelly voice and read off the hammy script they half-seriously put together, “rest assured that Mokushu would never, ever, raise a hand against you. After all, we were allies in the war, were we not? Those dirty Hoshidans surely have you fooled!”

Takumi flipped his hair exaggeratedly, like one of the conceited noblewomen of the court, and Leo nearly choked on his fish cakes. Stifling a chuckle, he answered, “However, Mokushu is the only country with motive for starting another war. Furthermore, we are not here to cast blame on Hoshido, but to hear your explanation as to why one of your ninjas has made an attempt on my life.”

“You have no proof that he is one of our ninjas.”

“Perhaps, however we have managed to extort from him his name, age, and other personal information. Tell me, Daimyo Kotaro, if I were to look into your records right now, would I find an individual that matches those exact details?”

“Curses! You’ve foiled my plot. Your tactile mind and superior intellect has bested me, King Leo! Mokushu concedes, and as apology, will gift to the kingdom of Nohr, 100 acres of our finest tomato farms!”

That part was not in the script, and Leo couldn’t help doubling over in laughter this time. Leo as a person could never manage the uproarious belting laughter of truly jolly people, but there was still a profound difference between his genuine laughter, which sounded almost like a spoken “hahaha”, and his offhanded vocalizations of amusement, the dismissive “heh”. The former was far rarer, and it hadn’t happened once since the war started back in his own world. But Takumi made him laugh without even trying.

That still didn’t stop him from retorting, “Mokushu doesn’t grow good tomatoes. They’re a military country, and their main agricultural export is rice, anyway.”

Takumi rolled his eyes, “Do you ever take that stick out of your ass?”

“I’m sure he would to make room for you,” a saucy voice popped up over Leo’s shoulder and the king nearly fell out of his chair.

Meanwhile, Takumi merely rolled his eyes again, “Really, Niles?”

“But I must say I’m impressed, Prince Takumi. To seduce the heart of our King Leo,” he leaned in and purred, “you’re a very special man, aren’t you?”

“Stop that,” Leo growled and nudged his retainer back with an elbow, “Why are you here?”

“The carriage is ready to depart for Nohr.”

“So soon?” Leo deflated. He was rather enjoying himself here with Takumi.

“I know you’d prefer to leave in the morning, however,” Niles’ voice dipped to a whisper, “Lady Camilla wants to see you again terribly, and I’m fairly certain she’s been reorganizing the books in your absence-“

“We leave immediately,” Leo stood abruptly and began to collect his things.

Behind him, Takumi chuckled, “So predictable.”

-

The return trip was not nearly as eventful nor stressful as the initial one. The already lacking window scenery of rolling moors and farmland was replaced with a silent darkness. Of course, it never stayed silent for long with Takumi around.

“I’ve been thinking about that notebook of yours,” he began.

“Notebook?” Leo wracked his head for a moment before remembering the souvenir of the previous Leo. His face twisted. Admittedly, he was less curious about his other self’s work after realizing what a terrible friend he’d been to Takumi, and he wasn’t in any hurry to return to his own world now, either. He’d already decided to make his place in this one, with one live sibling, and a sane Takumi. Still, his curious mind persisted, “Oh, right. That. What of it?”

“I just thought, that if it was you, and you wanted to hide something no matter what, you wouldn’t rely on a mere sealing spell to do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you added a condition so that the seal on that book can only be lifted by you. There’s a type of magic that only you can perform, right?”

Leo’s hand unconsciously drifted to the familiar tome tucked away at his hip. 

“Brynhildr,” He breathed, “Of course! It’s so obvious! How could I not have seen it before?”

“You’re welcome,” Takumi preened, “I’ll take my thanks now.”

Leo didn’t waste any time wiping that infuriatingly self-satisfied look off his face. Gathering his nerves, he leaned in and planted a quick peck on Takumi’s smugly upturned lips. 

“Thank you,” he said, as he watched Takumi’s face turn a delicious shade of red.

“That was different,” the prince whispered, breathy and almost amazed.

For a moment, Leo was frazzled, “Why? Did I do it wrong? Sorry, I’ve never really kissed- or, um, remember kissing anybody before and-“

“No, it was nice!” Takumi interrupted, his blush somehow intensifying as he sputtered, “You’ve never kissed me…like that…before.”

“You mean I’ve never kissed you without further intentions before?” Leo mumbled darkly, his silent anger for his doppleganger roaring again. Takumi didn’t answer, but his silence was enough. “Don’t worry. Things will be different from now on.”

He was going to be better. Takumi deserved better.

-

Leo stepped back into Krakenburg with predictable result.

Camilla had launched herself at him, half gushing over his return, and half complaining about how cold and lonely the castle was an oh, how could he stand it here? It took hours before he could pry himself from her company. Not that he didn’t enjoy spending time with her, but by the third hour, their tea party was growing stale. 

Once free, Leo immediately retrieved the notebook and set it upon his desk aside Brynhildr. With fingers crossed, he brought his legendary tome to life, and channeled its ancient magic into the other ‘s pages. Then, with his free hand, he flipped the cover.

It opened.

“My gods, it worked-“ he gasped, and stopped short at the sight of the first page.

“The Principles and Processes of Alternate Dimensions -a work in progress by King Leo of Nohr”

Fervently, Leo thumbed through the pages. A quick skim told him all he needed to know. The notebook detailed the creation process of a spell. The other Leo was attempting interdimensional travel, by the looks of it. Halfway through, he managed to peer into other worlds, but not step into them. Near the end of the book, he seemed to have nearly mastered it.

“It really was him,” Leo muttered grimly, “He was the one who sent me here. But why?”

Then, as if in answer to his questions, a single envelope greeted him on the very last page. Sealed and addressed:

“To myself”

Leo stepped back for a moment. There was a foreboding feeling in his stomach, an instinct that told him things would change if he read that letter, just like what he felt when he first noticed Takumi was hiding something from him and wondered if he should ask. That letter was going to become a heavy burden on him. He knew it.

Yet, curiosity continued to drive him.

Leo plucked the leather from the book and seated himself comfortably in his chair. With bated breath, he ripped it open. 

-

“To myself,

I’m sure you must be quite confused as to how you’ve come into this world, and taken my place. I would like to apologize for making this letter so difficult to find, however, I had to make sure that nobody other than you would ever read it. Takumi especially.

I first got the idea from looking into Azura’s crystal. It showed me the truth, and I wondered what other things I could see with magic. At first, I was looking for peace, a world in which everyone survived, but I found much more than that.

In many of the dimensions where Corrin joins Hoshido and Nohr loses the war, I am eventually assassinated. If that comes to pass, Nohr will certainly fall.

Naturally, my policies were too extreme for many of the nobles, and Mokushu was hungry for war, but there was always one reason that occurred more than any other: Takumi.

In every world where I become king and Takumi becomes my advisor, I will eventually fall in love with him. I have tried to search for a single one where this does not occur, and have yet to find it, this one included. However, in every world where I marry Takumi or take him as a lover, there are dire consequences for Nohr. As you can imagine, it was a political disaster, and I became a disgrace of a King. Many people wanted me dead, and they often succeeded.

Sometimes they succeeded in killing Takumi, too.

I determined that I could never allow such a future to come to pass, but even knowing all this… I was weak and I made a terrible mistake. That is all I will say.

If you are reading this letter, then that means the worst has come to pass, and despite all my knowledge, I have failed to prevent an assassination. It also means that I have lived long enough to travel into your world and switch places with you in order to prevent the fall out.

I apologize for forcing you into the position of king, but please understand that this is all for Nohr’s sake.

The reason I have chosen your world and you, specifically, is because only you have seen all of your siblings die by Takumi’s hand. Had I not intervened, he would have killed you too. That is why your experience is invaluable to me.

I hope that at least you, of all versions of myself, will not fall in love with Prince Takumi of Hoshido.

Best regards,  
Yourself”

-

In all of the worlds he had seen, this one was certainly the bleakest. 

The King of Nohr stared down at the unconscious body on the ground, in his hands the blunt training club he used to knock him out. Leo quickly got to work and stripped his other self of his armor, tried to make him look less like he just stepped out of a war, and shoved him through the portal into his own world, carelessly tossing the other copy of Brynhildr along with him. He trusted that Takumi would return it to its rightful place beneath his pillow, anyhow.

The portal itself was a flimsy, unreliable thing that seemed to be flickering out of existence half the time. Leo decided to let it close before he did irreparable damage to the spacetime continuum. He doubted that he’d ever be able to replicate it again. Travel between worlds was more difficult, and required more energy than he’d have ever thought possible, even with Brynhildr’s gravity manipulating abilities.

Still, he was much improved in magic since the end of the war. He still had enough energy to restrain a possessed being or two. 

He shot a pointed look at the monster that took Takumi’s form, entangled and caged in a web of branches. The faceless were tearing at it, trying to free their commander. They’d probably succeed soon, and Leo didn’t know if he had any energy left to defend himself. The poison was working quickly.

It didn’t matter. He accomplished what he came to do.

“Still,” he mused, raising Brynhildr for what may well be the final time, “A last stand doesn’t sound too bad.”

At the same time, Takumi broke free and raised his bow again, seeming even more furious at having been interrupted.

A spell was cast.

An arrow was fired.


	8. Can't Fill These Shoes

Leo toyed with the fire tome in his hand for the twentieth time that hour, staring down the bleak dark notebook which mocked him from his desktop. He wanted nothing more than to burn it, to deny it. Perhaps all of this was just a cruel joke his other self was playing on him. Perhaps the old King Leo was driven to madness. 

But Leo wasn’t stupid.

With a silent curse, he dropped the fire tome to the floor, and instead placed his head into his hands.

“What am I to do now?” He muttered, then screamed to his ceiling, louder, “What am I to do now!?”

Could he continue his relationship with Takumi, risking both their lives? Could he even continue lying to him, knowing that the terrible man he thought he was replacing, was actually a better and more competent man than himself? What about the others? Niles and Camilla…he owed them the truth as well. 

His ideas and intentions from before suddenly seemed very childish. 

The previous Leo cast a shadow on him, and it reminded him distinctly of his older brother. Here was a man who thought ahead, always putting Nohr before anything else. Somebody who deserved to bear the crown. And then there was himself, selfish, and a liar.

“No,” Leo murmured, picking up the letter which had been tucked away so thoroughly, “You were a liar too.”

There was a knock at his door. 

“Come in,” Leo didn’t look up. He already knew who it was.

“I heard yelling,” Takumi swiftly crossed the room and placed a calming hand that burned on Leo’s shoulder, “Are you okay?”

“I opened the notebook,” Leo didn’t give himself a chance to rethink his decision, and shoved the letter into Takumi’s face, “Read this.”

He was a liar, but he didn’t have to keep lying. If there was one thing that he could do for Takumi that the other Leo couldn’t, it was to tell him the truth.

Takumi shot him a look that was half concern and half confusion, but sat down with the letter regardless. Meanwhile, Leo scurried to the corner with his bookshelf and grabbed a random volume off the shelves. He knew it wouldn’t be enough to distract him before he even opened it. The sentences swam nonsensically before his eyes: something about philosophy, something he’d already read half a dozen times before but couldn’t remember a single word of now. 

It took about thirty-five read-throughs of the same three lines for Takumi to stand, his shadow drawing closer and obscuring the ink on the pages. Leo didn’t speak, hoping that the other would have the courage he lacked to break the silence. He waited for the righteous anger, the deserved indignation, the furious shouting, but received something worse.

“Is he really gone?” Takumi choked out, not yelling, not even close. He was almost whispering, his voice soft and terrified. In his grasp, the letter trembled like a leaf in the wind.

Oh. Leo blinked. _Oh._

He should have known. Takumi wouldn’t get angry at him. Takumi wouldn’t think of him at all. His priority would always be, and always had been, the other Leo. 

The realization made his chest throb, as if his ribs were constricting upon his lungs, and his heart, like claws. He hated it, seethed at it.

“Likely,” he was being too curt, he knew this, but couldn’t stop the coldness clipping his voice, “since I’m here, and I’m certainly not of this world.”

“Are you sure?” Takumi almost pleaded, and Leo didn’t dare look up from his illegible text, but from the sound of his voice he could tell that he was probably close to tears, “I mean, it could still be a trick. Something must have been done to your memory. After all, you’re still the Leo I know. There’s no way you could just be someone else!”

“Takumi, I-“ Leo was cut off by two hands on his shoulders, clinging desperately onto him as if he was in danger of slipping away. Takumi’s fingers were strong, he mused, wondering if he’d find bruises on his skin by tomorrow.

“We should call a healer. I’ll send in a request for Sakura to come by. Don’t worry, Leo. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you back to normal!”

He was forcing it. A false smile that didn’t reach his eyes, anxious hands hanging onto his shoulders like they were the tiniest sliver of hope, and for a second Leo was tempted to play along. It would be so much easier to keep lying, to keep pretending that he belonged. 

“I’ve known for a while,” Somehow, he found it in himself to tell the truth, the part of him that wanted to surpass himself and do right by Takumi winning over. Though it was hard to feel as if he was doing anything right at the moment. “The Corrin from my world is a woman. No spell could fake so many years of memories like that. I’ve known since I saw your brother that this couldn’t be my world.”

Takumi’s eyes widened, realization and horror, and then narrowed. Anger.

“What do you mean you knew all along?” He growled, the archer’s grip somehow tightening even further, and Leo started to worry if his bones might crack, “You made me tell you the truth about our relationship in order to help you get your memories back. You’re saying that you already knew there wasn’t any issue with your memories back then?” 

A quiet seething anger rolled off of Takumi in waves, and it was significantly more terrifying than if he’d just shouted and prickled as he usually did. It reminded Leo of the red-eyed archer in the throne room, mumbling and breathing heavily, only to explode in curses and screams for death.

“And then you asked me out, even though you knew everything?” Takumi kept going, pushing forward to shove Leo roughly against the bookshelves, a familiar murder in his eyes. Tomes toppled to the ground and for once, Leo wasn’t worrying about the disarray befalling his books. “You kissed me! You lied to me! How dare you!”

“Ow!” Leo hissed instinctively, the ridge of the wooden bookcase digging into his spine. His pupils shivered, scared, and Takumi must have seen it, because he released him in an instant, stepping backwards as if he’d been burned.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Despite everything, Takumi still had enough control over himself to remember Leo’s trauma, it seemed. The tension evaporated from his face, replaced with resigned disappointment, “Did I hurt you?”

Leo was aching terribly, “No. I’m fine.”

Takumi didn’t look convinced, “I’m going to grab a healer.”

“No. Wait,” It was Leo’s turn to grab his shoulder now, one hand gently stopping him from leaving, “Listen to me first.”

Takumi looked at him like staying in his vicinity was the last thing he wanted to do, but still he resigned, and plopped himself back onto his loveseat, “Only if you promise to see a healer immediately after.”

Even now, when he was furious at him, when he knew the truth, Takumi showed him consideration. He could almost cry.

“I will,” he agreed, and perched nervously on the opposite side, “I suppose I have a lot of explaining to do.”

Takumi nodded with condescending slowness, as if he were disciplining a child.

“At first, I wanted to understand how this all happened before I told you the truth. I admit, part of it was because I was afraid of your reaction. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you what happened to the other Leo. I thought knowing about your past would give me some clues but…” Leo grimaced, “I just got angry. At him. The other me. I couldn’t stand the way he treated you, even though you’ve been nothing but kind to me, so I thought I could do better. I thought it’d be fine if I just replaced him. There was nothing left for me back in my own world, but here I had…well I had you.”

“And you were just going to carry this secret with you to the grave?”

“I thought it’d be for the better. No one had to get hurt that way.”

Takumi scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

“I know. I was wrong.,” Leo accepted the derision with compliance, “The other Leo made it clear. Compared to him, I’m just a selfish, spoiled brat.”

“Sounds familiar, “ Takumi quipped, a brief reprieve from the heavy atmosphere, then tightened his lip again, “So he’s really gone, then? He was poisoned by the assassin after all, and now he’s lying in your world, dead by my own hand.”

It was the second time Takumi cried in his presence, but the first time that he could see it so clearly. The tears swimming his eyes made his irises look like liquid gold. The sun was dying in the window at his back, bathing the room in red and purple, and lighting the edges of his hair afire. Even in this moment, he looked enchanting. Leo wished he could reach out and console him, but he had a feeling that his touch wasn’t wanted at the moment.

“I’m leaving,” Takumi stood abruptly, likely not wanting to break down in his presence, and this time Leo let him go.

-

Leo stared numbly at the notes in his hands, Daimyo Kotaro smirking haughtily from the other side of the meeting table, a piece of furniture much too long for the handful of people it seated, as if he could sense his lack of motivation at the moment.

It was another week without Takumi, this one more painful than the last. This time, he had ample reason to believe Takumi wouldn’t come back. He wasn’t the right Leo, wasn’t _his_ Leo, after all. There was nothing more stopping the Hoshidan Prince from quitting his post and returning to his country. Yet politics waited for no one. He barely had any time to grieve before being thrust back into work, trying desperately to carry the heavy crown that was left for him, this time without Takumi’s help.

“The assassin named himself as one of yours,” Leo delivered the words with what he hoped was convincing confidence, reminding himself of the script that they rehearsed.

“Indeed, he was,” Kotaro agreed, and Leo frowned.

He had expected him to deny it.

“Are you admitting to sending an assassin after me?”

“Of course not. This ninja was merely acting on his own. Gone rogue, you could say. I didn’t order him to do anything, and you can’t prove that I did.”

The smugness was permeating off the daimyo’s face, and the papers in Leo’s hands wrinkled under his clutch. 

“Very well then,” he growled, not at all in the mood to put up with the charade, “We can consider this a random occurrence.” Kotaro’s grin grew. “So long as it never happens again.” The grin faltered, and now it was Leo’s turn to smile, “If there is another attempt on my life, successful or not, we will be assuming Mokushu as the prime suspect. I will be informing both King Ryoma and my sister Camilla that in the case of my death, they are to immediately prepare for war against your country.”

“What?” Kotaro paled, his hand slamming hard against the desktop. Leo leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands above his knee, satisfied. Plan B always worked. If he couldn’t bring them to justice, then he would just remove the incentive for the crime. “You’re going to ally yourself with the Hoshidans?”

“Of course,” Leo’s eyes twinkled maliciously, “If our two countries fight together, the combined military might would be incredible. I can guarantee that no country would be able to stand against us, should war arise. Mokushu included.”

Kotaro gulped before speaking against, voice shaky, but no less spiteful, “As I thought, you are a warmonger. Just like your father.”

Leo snapped, “This meeting is over.”

“What’s wrong? Did I hit a nerve? I feel sorry for the citizens of Nohr. So hopeful for a more peaceful, more capable king. Instead they got you. Inferior to your brother, and just as mad as your father!”

“Niles!” Leo shouted, and the archer dropped down behind Kotaro as if appearing from nowhere, “Escort our guest out.”

“My pleasure,” Niles nodded, voice full of displeasure, as he motioned the daimyo through the door.

Kotaro turned over his shoulder for a final farewell, “You’re only making me leave because you’re afraid to admit that I’m right.”

And Leo scowled, because loathe as he was to think it, and aware as he was that the daimyo was just trying to get under his skin, he was beginning to wonder if it were true. Perhaps he wasn’t fit to be king. At the very least, he was less fit than the other Leo. If only he could have perished in the throne room like he was supposed to, and the superior version of himself could live on here, restoring Nohr to its former glory like the king he couldn’t be. The only reason he stayed was for Takumi and Camilla, but neither of the two belonged to him. Takumi especially, now that he knew the truth.

Leo thought back to the notebook again. Judging by its contents, the other Leo was not only able to pinpoint a specific universe and a specific location, but a specific time as well, right before his duel with the possessed Takumi. In that case, since he had all the notes available, wouldn’t he be able to do the same thing? 

With newfound vigor, Leo returned to his room and pulled out the notebook again, this time combing over every detail.

 _Don’t worry, Takumi._ He thought to himself, making a bittersweet resolution. _I’ll bring him back to Nohr, and to you._


	9. Sacrificial Lamb

Leo had one more meeting with Kotaro. The two sat around a smaller table this time, two cups of black tea before them.

“I would like you to provide me with a sample of the antidote for the poison used in my assassination attempt,” Leo requested, as he swirled his tea.

The daimyo soured, glancing up mid-sip from his own cup, “After your allegations and warmongering, you still ask for more?”

“I don’t see how my request is unreasonable,” Leo shot him a knowing smirk, “After all, if you’re as innocent as you claim, you should have no problem giving me a way to protect myself in the future. Should I presume you guilty instead?” 

Kotaro clicked his tongue, “Very well. I shall have it prepared and sent-“

“No need. I’ll just take the one you have on your person.”

“How…?” The daimyo’s eyes widened as he slammed his now empty teacup back on the table.

“You wouldn’t leave yourself unguarded. Not even against your own.”

Disgruntled, Kotaro withdrew a small vial from an inner pocket and placed it on the table, “I get it. You wouldn’t trust it to be a real antidote unless it was my personal stock, would you?”

“Naturally, I’d still test out its efficacy,” Leo raised his teacup, still full, “But time is of the essence, so I’d like to do it as efficiently as possible.”

He promptly tipped his cup, dumping all of his tea over the table. The daimyo stared back, shocked.

“What are you doing?”

Leo stared back coldly, “We managed to synthesize the poison ourselves after studying the traces on the blade of the assassin that was sent after me. We experimented with it. Apparently it works just as well ingested as it does in the bloodstream.”

Leo placed down his empty cup, and raised the antidote vial to Kotaro, who was now gaping like a fish. The Nohrian king could practically see the gears in his head spinning, attempting to catch up to the situation.

“You poisoned the tea,” Kotaro finally muttered.

Leo shrugged and raised the vial closer to his face, “If that were the case, you’d be needing this, wouldn’t you?”

However, Kotaro didn’t reach for the vial. In a flash, his hand disappeared into his sleeve and retrieved something. Another vial, almost identical.

“Ah, so there’s the real one,” Leo tutted as Kotaro guiltily uncorked it. Just as he was about to raise it to his lips, however, Leo snatched it out of his hands, “I didn’t actually poison anything, by the way. You were just making your own assumptions. After all, what kind of ruler would I be to target the life of another?”

Kotaro’s face grew red, “You impudent little-“

“I am not the impudent one. I believe I’m being rather gracious, allowing you to get away with offering me a fake antidote.”

The glare he shot him froze the daimyo in place. Leo reveled in it, finally feeling powerful and in control for the first time in a long while.

“You’re dismissed.”

After he left, Leo called Niles over and handed him the tiny flask.

“Test it out on one of our death row inmates.”

The archer chuckled, “You’re being very careful about this, aren’t you? I doubt he’ll even try using the same poison now if he wanted to kill you.”

“Just do it,” Leo grumbled. 

It didn’t matter. After all, the recipient of that antidote had already been poisoned.

-

Six months ago, King Leo created a replica of Azura’s crystal based on its broken shards. It was during the peak of his loneliness, when he was combing the continent for traces of rare, olden texts on the subject of different universes. He developed an enchantment slightly modified from its original one, and refined it. The new crystal could be used repeatedly without shattering, and it gazed not at the truth, but at other worlds entirely.

Six months later, a different King Leo stared at it, astounded by its complexity and the immense magical ability required for its creation.

“Amazing,” he mumbled to the notebook, as if the collection of his thoughts was substitute for the person himself, “Even though we are supposed to be the same person, you’ve accomplished so much more.”

The crystal ball had its limitations, however. It only showed the viewer his own perspective, and it was incredibly difficult to navigate. Worlds flickered through it like pages flapping in the wind, and it took an immense amount of concentration to focus on just one. However, with practice, he was able to differentiate between them. There was a seemingly infinite number of universes, but they existed on a gradient, like a branching tree. The largest split was upon the first meeting of their armies, when Corrin chose between the two kingdoms, and surprisingly, a third option.

Leo watched himself travel to a hidden world called Valla, watched him befriend Prince Takumi, watched all of his siblings, all of Takumi’s siblings, survive and live on, and eventually could watch no more and closed his eyes. 

He wondered why, in the end, his other self had not chosen to travel to one of those worlds.

Was it because of his duty to Nohr? 

Or was it because of Takumi?

He decided he didn’t want to know the answer. He continued to reach with his magic, seeing worlds that were more familiar to him.

The previous king had mentioned he’d fallen in love with Takumi every time he became his advisor. This was true. To his surprise, they managed to be happy in a few of those worlds, and dead in many others. In some, Sakura, Hinoka, or even Corrin were sent in his stead. In a fraction of those, he even married one of them. In most, however, it was a foreign princess, a purely political marriage.

Leo had enough, and retraced his steps along the branches of fate, and allowed an invisible current to carry him back to the world where he came from. It had been the easiest one to locate, as if the previous king had drawn a map for it, like laying down a string for him to follow. He had marked it, just in case he had to access it again. Just in case he was going to die. 

It was a unique experience, watching another Leo enter suddenly, knock him over the head and shove him through the portal, then take his place in the final confrontation. Both Leo and Takumi then died in the battle of the throne room, and the future after that was left blank. He could not see anything beyond his own death, but he could hypothesize. Left without a ruler, Nohr would fall to ruin. Some of the smaller lords may attempt to seize control, and civil war would tear the country apart. Maybe one would emerge victorious, maybe none. Perhaps the Kingdom of Nohr would become lost to the history books forever. A once great nation, reduced to nothing.

He wondered what it said about himself that he still cared more about making Takumi happy again.

Leo shook his head of the thoughts and returned to work. The notebook was divided into two main parts. One recorded the construction and experimentation process of the crystal ball, and the other was filled with theories on spacetime. There were pages of mathematical formulas and notes of scientific texts detailing the effects of mass warping the space and time around it. A large enough gravitational force should potentially be able to tear it altogether, and Leo had developed a method of travel based on that theory.

The crystal would be used to direct the portal, a modified warp tome to open it, and Brynhildr to provide the energy. Frankly, it was the first time Leo had attempted to cast with three magical items at once. He failed often, as expected, but he practiced countless times into the night, staying awake for hours, and returning to govern in the morning with tired eyes.

Eventually he became capable of opening a tiny tear, but nowhere near able to manage a stable portal. Leo returned to the notebook with renewed vigor. It had mentioned something about the spell requiring a lot of energy. 

“Find me as much spirit dust in as little time as possible,” he demanded of Niles one day, to the archer’s confusion, “It’s for an experiment.”

He had considered telling Niles, and even Camilla, about the truth, but thought better of it. Both would certainly try to go with him in the rescue, and if past experiences were anything to go by, they would both die by arrow fire. Besides, if his plan was successful, he’d make the switch, and neither would ever know that had happened.

Meanwhile, Leo stockpiled magic tonics, which were plentiful, having been leftover from the war. They would only have a temporary effect, but he only needed the portal open for a moment. 

It was one week after he had made his resolve, and two more weeks since last seeing Takumi, that Leo stood in his bedroom, Brynhildr in one hand, warp tome in the other, and the crystal ball placed on the floor before him, focused on the scene in the throne room. At 7 pouches of spirit dust and 12 magic tonics, Leo closed his eyes, feeling sick to his stomach, and cast his magic as far as he could, reaching into the crystal, trying to scoop up the scene before his death. He truly felt as if he could puke, and briefly wondered if taking that many magic enhancing drugs would have long term effects on his magical abilities. He had read somewhere that it was a possibility, but even if it were to cripple his magic, even if he could never cast a single spell again, it would be worth it. For Takumi. 

When the light faded and he opened his eyes, he stood before a shimmering circle. It was nearly two meters in diameter, and phased through the floor, resembling something more like a large arch. The border around it ebbed with a dark energy, as if it could collapse at any moment. Still, it was there.

“I did it,” Leo whispered as if the words were sacred.

A part of him didn’t think himself capable. It was such an advanced magic and he had attempted it mere weeks after learning of it. He was feeling giddy despite himself. _What an accomplishment! What a feat!_ Celebration would have to wait, however. Peering into the portal, he realized immediately that he had missed the ideal time gap by a stretch, having not been fluent enough at navigating the crystal ball. The possessed Takumi had already freed himself from Brynhildr’s branches and was aiming his arrow straight at King Leo, who had paused from his spell casting to stare back through the portal that had ripped through the space, shocked to see himself.

The arrow fired. There wasn’t time.

Leo leapt through the portal, just as his bedroom door opened.

Takumi stepped into the room.

“Leo, I’ve had some time to think and-“ the archer froze, watching the familiar back retreating through a strange portal, “Leo?”

All of it happened in a split second. He watched with wide eyes, gazing through the arc, as Leo stood in what appeared to be the Hoshidan throne room. His arms were spread out defensively, as if he was shielding something behind him, but Takumi couldn’t quite see what with the narrow field of view provided by the gate. He did, however, see the black arrow, forboding yet familiar, pierce his Leo’s torso, and see him fall to his knees. An absolutely wretched sound filled the air, a scream of utter pain and agony, and Takumi realized that it was himself, tearing his throat raw.

Leo must have heard him, because his head jerked in his direction, eyes wide in shock. And fear, he realized.

“Don’t come!” Leo yelled, desperately, “It’s dangerous! Don’t come!”

Takumi, of course, was never good at listening. 

In an instant, he was through the gate, Fujin Yumi in hand. He was glad that habit of carrying it around never left him. Somewhere behind him, Leo was shouting.

“You idiot! Why did you come?”

“What’s going on? Why is Takumi here!?”

Two voices, he realized, and a part of him was glad that something kept his focus so he wouldn’t have to look back. He barely remembered it happening. All he could recall was a deep mixture of emotion. He was overwhelmed, he was scared, not for himself, but for the lives behind him, and more than anything, he was angry. 

Takumi raised his bow, fired, and he could have almost sworn he caught a ghost of a smile as he pierced his own heart.


	10. Young Lions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for sticking with me throughout Young Lions!
> 
> I have to admit, I struggled a lot more with trying to make this work than my previous multi-chapter story. The plot was significantly more complex, and I appreciate all the readers for enduring the longer wait times.
> 
> This story has finally come to a close, but I think you can look forward to something more in the future.
> 
> Without further ado:

‘Takumi’ fell, his hands clasped around the green arrow imbedded in his chest. Even though he knew it was a fake, a monster wearing the prince’s skin, Leo couldn’t bear to look. 

Then again, he barely had the energy to raise his head in the first place. The arrow in his gut dissipated, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. He clasped his hand over it in vain, unable to stem the bleeding. The pain was unbearable, but now wasn’t the time to focus on that. Fumbling, he reached into the pocket of his pants and withdrew the glass vial.

“Takumi,” he called out hoarsely.

The Hoshidan prince broke snapped to him suddenly, as if breaking free from a trance. He quickly sheathed his bow and rushed over, kneeling before him.

“Leo! Are you alright?” Takumi panicked, gaping at his wound in horror, “Oh gods, you’re bleeding so much. Wait here, I’ll run back and grab some bandages-“

Leo interrupted him, shoving the vial in his face.

“Antidote,” he said, “Give it to him. Don’t let him die.”

Takumi looked torn, “But we need to get you treated. You’ll die too!”

Even so, he took the vial, finally letting his eyes fall upon the other figure in the room. The other Leo had walked over at some point, and withdrew another bottle from his own pocket, this one much larger.

“No one has to die,” He uncorked it and lifted Leo’s chin, pressing the drink to his lips, “It’s an elixir. I always keep one on me, just in case. Though I suppose it was quite useless in a poison attack.”

Gratefully, Leo accepted the offer. It was odd, being fed a drink by what appeared to be himself. Beside them, Takumi fiddled awkwardly.

“Uh, here,” the archer offered the antidote to the other Leo, who accepted it graciously, downing it in a gulp.

“Thank you,” he uttered, speaking with a calculated distance. Though he was looking at himself, Leo couldn’t help feeling as if he was staring at a stranger.

“So…what now?” Takumi shuffled on his feet, eyes flickering nervously between the two Leos.

Leo opened his mouth, but his doppleganger was quicker.

“Now, the two of you will return through that portal, before it becomes too unstable,” he said, “You shouldn’t have come here in the first place.”

“What!?” both Takumi and Leo exclaimed.

“I didn’t come here to save your life,” Leo spat, “I came here to return you to Takumi.”

“Didn’t you read my letter?”

“I did. I showed it to Takumi, too. He knows everything.”

At this, the other Leo flinched, his eyes turning upon him with a cold fury, “Why?”

He spoke the word not like a question, but a demand. He truly exuded the aura of a king at that moment, an air of utter authority. It wasn’t like Garon’s madness, or Xanders stoicism. It was just icy and unfeeling. Leo found himself shrinking back unconsciously, while Takumi surged forward.

“Well why did you lie to me!?” Takumi shouted, “We could have worked it out! We could have found a way to be together, despite the risks. What gives you the right to make such a one-sided decision? To decide that we couldn’t even try?”

The other Leo stared impassively for a few seconds, then sighed, “I turned my back on Nohr once. I allowed Xander to fight alone, and thanks to my decision, both he and Elise died.”

“That wasn’t your-“

“I know it wasn’t my fault, but it doesn’t matter. Feelings aren’t bound by logic. I’m sure you know that. My kingship is more important than you, whether I care for you or not.”

Leo watched the exchange with shaking fists. Takumi was crumbling. He looked so broken at the words, tears pooling in his eyes. Leo couldn’t understand it. What was the point of being king? What was the point of throwing Takumi away, when Takumi was all he could hope for and more? He himself had chosen Nohr, and it ended with even more tragedy. 

“I would always place you before my kingdom,” he muttered. Takumi’s eyes snapped to him, astounded. Leo himself was astounded. He hadn’t meant to say those words aloud.

“There you have it,” the other Leo smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “Go back with him. I will stay here.”

“But this is my world,” Leo argued, giving it one last shot, “I’m the one who belongs here. And I’m not the one Takumi loves.”

He didn’t notice the slight shake of Takumi’s head at his words, but someone did.

The former king of Nohr, or was he still technically king, sighed, “What do you think will happen after this? All of the other royals are dead. You will have to run this kingdom without any aid, and trust me, Hoshido will not be as merciful as they were in my world. You will not be receiving Princess Hinoka’s help, or Takumi’s. Would you be able to rebuild Nohr by yourself?”

“I…I don’t know,” he admitted.

“But I do. I’ve already done it once. I’m confident that I can save this kingdom,” he turned his cold gaze onto Takumi, “So understand. I’m not making this decision for you. I’m making it for Nohr.”

“But-“ Leo started, but was interrupted, as Takumi held up a hand.

The archer’s eyes were tired. Leo wondered if he’d been sleeping. Takumi turned away.

“Fine,” he uttered, a finality to his voice. He didn’t sound angry, merely resigned. It meant that this wasn’t a burst of temper, it was a decision.

Leo was incredulous as the archer stepped through portal. He turned back to himself, his cold gaze seeming to falter for a flicker of a moment, but that tiny lapse in his expression was all he needed.

“If you truly valued Nohr, then you would return to govern it,” he accused, “You wouldn’t leave it to someone like me, who would throw it away for Takumi’s sake.”

The eyes of his duplicate narrowed, and firmly placed a hand on his chest, then without even touching his tome, sent him flying backwards.

 _Gravity._ Leo realized. _He’s forcing something else to exhibit a gravitational pull on me. Without opening Brynhildr, either!_

Leo barely had time to be impressed. At the same time as he flew through the portal, he caught in the edge of his vision, two items flying the other way. The crystal and the notebook.

They landed in the other Leo’s hand, while Leo collided with the wall. 

“Don’t attempt to come here again,” Leo declared from beyond the gate, “Spacetime is fragile. The makeshift spell we’re using isn’t stable. You’ll risk disrupting it.”

“Wait!” 

But Leo’s shout went unheard. The portal closed in a flash, and the two of them were left alone in the room.

Leo felt sick. He failed. The crystal ball, the notebook, himself, they were all lost. The pain in his gut disappeared, but was replaced with nausea. Takumi’s concerned voice in his ear was muddled as the room blurred, and the floor swung up to meet him.

-

Leo blinked blearily as he opened his eyes. He was lying in his bed again. His head was throbbing, and it felt like a thunderstorm in his stomach. Every bone ached. 

“You’re awake.”

Leo hesitated to face the voice. He felt like he could be dreaming, and by turning to look he would shatter the illusion. Carefully, he peeked at the man sitting by his bedside.

Takumi looked beautiful, as he always did. He also looked like he hadn’t slept in ages. He also looked angry. Very, very angry.

“What were you thinking!?” He shouted, even as he thrust a glass of water into Leo’s hands, “Ingesting that much spirit dust, and all those tonics! The physician thought you’d been poisoned! No matter how badly you wanted to bring that guy back, you shouldn’t have put your life at risk for it!”

Leo flinched, reminded of his failure, “Sorry, I couldn’t do it. But I’m sure I could remake the crystal somehow. If I try again…”

“Don’t,” Takumi stopped him, “He’s made his decision. Even if we went tried, we wouldn’t be able to force him to come back. And you. Do you even want to return to your own world? I thought you liked it better here?”

“Of course I do! It’s just-“ the bedridden blond sat a bit straighter, readying himself to speak, “He lied, you know? He didn’t do it for Nohr, he did it for you-“

“Who knows,” Takumi interrupted, “I don’t want to hear it anymore. There’s something I need to say.”

“Of course,” Leo was uneased, but open to wherever the other wanted to take the conversation, “Now that you mention it, why did you come into my room that day?”

“Well,” Takumi looked pinker than normal, and Leo had to blink, wondering if it was a trick of the light, “I had a lot of time to think. I’m still angry you lied, but I think I can forgive you for it. If possible, I’d like to return to my post.”

“So you won’t be leaving for Hoshido?” Leo asked, unable to contain his excitement. Hope pounded in him, like the day he first woke in this world, and realized Camilla was still alive.

“I’m staying here,” Takumi nodded, and the dam that held Leo back burst open.

“Thank you,” he drew Takumi into his arms, and to his relief, the other leaned in, allowing his forehead to rest in the crook of his neck, carefully placing a hand on the sheets to balance himself, as Leo reached up to cradle his waist.

Leo mumbled into the fabric on Takumi shoulder, over and over again, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“With time,” Takumi’s breath was warm on his collar, like the rest of him, “I also want to give it another shot. Our relationship.”

Leo nodded, “Anything you like. If I’m an adequate substitute-“

Takumi suddenly wrenched himself free of his grasp, leaving a cold air between them. Suddenly, two rough hands were gripping each side of his face, strong enough to hold him still, yet still gentle and controlled.

“You aren’t a substitute,” the Hoshidan prince growled into his face, the brusque voice that might have frightened him once before now making his heart pump in a completely different way, “Don’t you dare think for a moment that I’m just settling for you, or using you to replace him.”

“But I thought you loved him?” The words stung as they made their way out of Leo’s mouth.

“I do,” Takumi’s reply stung more, “Even now, after everything, I still miss him, and I’m thankful to you for saving his life, even if he’s choosing to live it apart from me. However!”

Takumi’s face was close now. Too close. Far too close. Just an inch and he could kiss him, and Leo didn’t know if he could resist doing that. He needed space. Leo leaned back, but Takumi followed with him, until he was cornered on the bed, with the archer’s full weight upon him, his hands still resting on his face.

“However…” He trailed off, and the young king realized the pink on Takumi’s cheeks was no illusion, and his golden pupils were flickering between Leo’s eyes, and his lips. He could feel Takumi everywhere. All of his senses were ablaze and screaming: Takumi, Takumi, Takumi, until everything cascaded unto one point, at the juncture of their lips.

Takumi was kissing him.

It was firstly hungry, open and wet, and in the back of his mind, Leo reckoned that Takumi was used to this kind of kiss. This was what he meant when he said it was different, the way Leo kissed and the way the other Leo kissed. As if Takumi himself realized that he was projecting his past onto him, he slowed down, easing off into gentle pecks that littered upwards to his cheeks, and ended at the corner of his eyes where Leo didn’t realize that tears had pooled.

“However, I love you too,” Takumi finished, finally, and gazed down at him with such tenderness and genuine adoration in his eyes, that Leo could only believe him. He was probably looking back in the same way. “The truth is, I might have always felt, unconsciously, that you weren’t the same Leo. You were too gentle, too free, too considerate. I felt like I was falling for “Leo” all over again, but in a different way. When I learned the truth, I needed time to sort out how I felt. That day, I came to your room to tell you this. That I just love you, Leo. No matter what world you’re from. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes,” Leo didn’t hesitate, “it is.”

He knew that the road ahead of them would surely be bumpy. Takumi’s love was split in two. He’d have to work hard to make sure that his portion eventually eclipsed that of the other Leo. There was also bound to be many struggles with his own kingdom, if he planned to make their relationship official, which he did want to do. Eventually, he’d have to reveal the truth to Niles and Camilla as well. His sister gave her love generously, he didn’t feel he had much to worry about from her, but Niles’s loyalty was built up from shared experiences. He didn’t know how his retainer would react.

Takumi seemed to notice the thoughts swimming into his head, as Leo felt a pair of lips land on his forehead.

“Stop worrying, sheesh,” Takumi was purposefully exasperated, complete with an exaggerated eyeroll, “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together. Right now, you need to go to sleep.”

 _That’s right,_ Leo’s last thoughts flitted through his head as he realized just how tired he felt, and let his eyelids droop, _We’ll get through it together._

-

Leo skimmed through the last of the images in the crystal ball, finally lingering on a scene of the two of them, ripe in their old age, happily chatting away over a beaten down chess set from their tenth wedding anniversary.

“I’m glad you could find happiness with him, after all,” he smiled, a sad one, as he sent a pulse of magic through the crystal, evaporating it in his hands, “That means I made the right decision.”

He surveyed the Hoshidan throne room, glancing past the bodies of his siblings. There was a lot of work ahead of him, but at the very least, there would be nothing to break his resolve. Not this time. He could finally bear the crown without guilt.

His gaze stopped at the form at the foot of the throne. Takumi was lying on his back, eyes closed. He looked almost peaceful-

No.

This was wrong.

Leo’s mind raced back, to himself sitting in his study, eyes on the crystal, watching the battles fought between his siblings and a possessed archer.

The bodies of the invisible kingdom never left a corpse. They faded away, black flecks into the air.

Shakily, Leo fell to his knees at the side of Takumi’s body. His hands brushing away the torn Kimono over his heart, where he’d been shot by the Fujin Yumi. No wound. It was his weapon, after all. The former, and soon to be crowned again, king of Nohr, felt bile in his throat. This was supposed to be his chance. He was supposed to rebuild his kingdom, and this time he wasn’t going to hurt him in the process. It was supposed to be like that.

With his eyes squeezed shut, Leo leaned down and pressed his ear to Takumi’s chest.

He could hear it. He could _feel_ it.

A heartbeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued?


End file.
